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AUTHOR: 


BONDURANT,  BERNARD 
CAMILLUS 


TITLE: 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS 
BRUTUS  ALBINUS; 


PLACE: 


CHICAGO 


DA  TE : 


1907 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
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Restrictions  on  Use: 


Bondurant,  Bernard  Gamillus. 

...  Decimus  Junius  Brutus  Albinus;  a  historical  study 
...    Chicago,  University  of  Cliicago  press,  1907. 
113  p.    24 J'-. 

Thesis  (ph.  d.)— University  of  Chicago. 

"Selected  list  of  books,  articles,  and  dissertations":  p.  14-16. 


1.  Brutus,  Decimtis  Junius,  sumamed  Albinus,  ca.  b.  c  85-43. 


Library  of  Congress 


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POVMDBD  BV  JOHM  D.  «OCKKrBU.»R 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 

A  HISTORICAL  STUDY 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE    FACULTY    OF   THE    GRADUATE  SCHOOL    OF    ARTS    ANt) 

LITERATURE  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR    OF    PHILOSOPHY 

(nEPARTMKNT  OF   LATIN    LANGUAGE   AND    LITERATURE) 


BY 


BERNARD  CAMILLUS  BONDURANT 


CHICAGO 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

1907 


COPTEIOHT  19W  Bt 

The  UNrvsBsiTX  or  Chicaqo 


Pablished  January,  1907 


CompoMd  and  Printed  By 

The  UniT«nity  of  Chlcaco  Fnm, 

Chia*«o,  illinois,  U.  8.  A. 


PREFACE 

Since  M.  Paulus  published  his  dissertation  De  Decimo  lunio 
Bruto  Albino  commentatio  historica  (Miinster,  1889),  much  light 
has  been  thrown  on  the  period  in  which  Decimus  Brutus  lived  and 
played  his  part  by  the  researches  of  Ganter,  Gardthausen,  Groebe, 
Holzapfel,  Krueger,  Schelle,  Schmidt,  Schwartz,  Sternkopf,  and 
other  scholars.  Aided  by  the  results  of  their  labors,  I  have  prepared 
from  the  sources  a  new  treatment  of  the  life  of  Decimus  and  its 
setting,  in  which,  as  it  will  be  seen,  my  interpretation  of  his  motives 
and  conduct  differs  essentially  from  that  of  Paulus. 

To  Professor  Frank  Frost  Abbott,  under  whose  supervision  this 
investigation  was  carried  on,  I  am  indebted  for  kindly  encourage- 
ment and  patient  criticism.  My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Dr.  Edward 
A.  Bechtel,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  Dr.  Tenney  Frank, 
of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  who  read  my  manuscript  and  made  many 

helpful  suggestions  for  its  improvement. 

B.  C.  B. 

Tallahassee,  Fla. 


SUMMARY  OF  CONTENTS 


The  Career  of  Decimus  Brutus  to  the  Year  45  b.  c p-  i? 

Date  of  Decimus'  birth  probably  85— His  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grand- 
father, the  consuls  of  77,  138,  and  178  respectively— Loyalty  of  his  great-grand- 
father, M.  lunius  Brutus,  to  the  Optimate  party— ffis  services  to  the  state- 
Opposition  of  Decimus'  grandfather,  Decimus  Brutus  Gallaecus,  to  democratic 
measures— His  military  achievements— Part  in  the  murder  of  the  adherents  of 
Gains  Gracchus— Father  of  Decimus,  Decimus  lunius  Brutus,  one  of  those  who 
took  up  arms  in  100  b.  c.  against  the  democratic  leaders,  Satuminus  and  Glaucia 
—A  leader  of  the  nobUitas  and  opposed  to  the  democratic  sedition  of  Lepidus— 
Victim  of  Verres'  greed— Scholar  and  pleader— Sempronia,  mother  of  Decimus 
Brutus,  involved  in  the  conspiracy  of  CatUine— Different  from  her  husband  in 
character  and  antecedents— Sallust's  characterization  of  her  unjust— Decimus 
adopted  into  the  gens  Postumia  whose  ancestors  had  prevented  the  return  of  the 
Tarquins   to    Rome— His  adoptive  father  probably  not  the  Aulus  Postumius 
Albinus  who  was  consul  in  99— He  takes  service  under  Caesar  in  Gaul  owing  to 
his  desire  for  military  preferment— Commander  of  Caesar's  fleet  in  the  war  with 
the  Veneti— His  brilliant  victory  in  the  Bay  of  Quiberon  prepares  the  way  for 
Caesar's  invasion  of  Britain— In  52  Decimus  accompanies  Caesar  across  the 
.  Cevennes  Mountains  into  the  country  of  the  Arvemi— Later  he  probably  leads 
Caesar's  recruits  to  Agedincum— Thence  he  marches  with  Labienus  to  join 
Caesar  and  takes  part  in  the  siege  of  Alesia— He  returns  to  Rome  in  50  and  marries 
Paula  Valeria,  soror  Triari— In  the  CivU  War  Decimus,  on  personal  grounds, 
sides  with  Caesar— The  Civil  War  begins— Caesar  acizes  by  violence  the  funds  of 
the  state— Decimus  Brutus  placed  in  charge  of  the  fleet  for  the  siege  of  Massilia 
—His  first  naval  victory  over  the  Massiliots  of  great  advantage  to  Caesar— In  a 
second  battle  he  overwhelmingly  defeats  the  Massiliots  and  closes  the  sea  to  them 
—Placed  in  command  of  Massilia,  and  made  governor  of  Transalpine  Gaul  for 
48,  in  which  position  he  continues  untU  45— Suppresses  revolt  of  the  Bellovaci  in  46. 

II 

Decimus*  Part  in  the  Assassination  of  Caesar p-  36 

Decimus  returns  from  Gaul  in  the  train  of  Caesar  in  45— Is  honored  by  the  dictator 
and  named  as  one  of  his  substitute  heirs— Mistakes  of  the  Greek  writers  in  regard 
to  Caesar's  will— Decimus  is  made  praetor  by  Caesar  in  the  latter  part  of  45, 
named  governor  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  for  44,  and  designated  consul  for  42— These 
honors  deserved  by  Decimus— In  poUtics  he  was  an  Optimate  by  inheriUnce, 
adoption,  and  environment— His  life  hitherto  a  miUtary  one  and  removed  from 
the  poUtical  strife  at  Rome— His  part  in  the  Civil  War  no  indication  of  his  poUtical 
convictions— Probably  cherished  along  with  others  the  hope  that  Caesar  would 
restore  the  free  republic— Caesar's  disregard  of  republican  institutions  arouses 

5 


5  DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 

hostiUty,  as  is  seen  in  the  letters  of  Cicero— Cicero  hints  that  Caesar  should  be 
disposed  of— Decimiis  observes  discontent  at   Rome— Extravagant  flattery  of 
Caesar  by  the  senate— Caesar  obtains  full  control  of  the  machinery  of  government 
—His  statue  borne  in  the  pompa  circensis  along  with  the  images  of  the  gods— He 
resents  the  conduct  of  Pontius  Aquila— Makes  promiscuous  additions  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  senate— The  senate  decrees  to  him  a  golden  statue  on  the  rostra— 
People  refuse  to  acknowledge  Fabius  Maximus  as  consul— Caninius  Rebilus— 
Caesar's  lack  of  wisdom  and  of  self-restraint  in  his  utterances— AddiUonal  honors 
—Caesar  punishes  two  tribunes  of  the  people— Senate  votes  him  further  honors- 
Affair  of  the  Lupercalia— At  the  consular  election  votes  are  cast  for  the  two  tribunes 
whom  Caesar  had  deprived  of  office— Deification  of  Caesar— Helvius  Cinna 
drafts  a  motion  that  Caesar  may  marry  whomsoever  he  chooses— Caesar  insults 
the  senate— Responsibility  for  the  extravagant  honors  that  made  Caesar  an  object 
of  hatred  not  to  be  laid  upon  those  who  afterward  effected  his  death— Origin  of 
the  conspiracy  against  Caesar— His  unpopularity  caused  by  the  suspicion  that  he 
was  ambitious  to  be  king— Assassination  and  mob  violence  in  certain  cases  justi- 
fied  by   the    Romans— Historical    precedents— Considerations   that   prompted 
Decimus  Brutus  to  take  part  in  the  conspiracy— Political  and  social  influences- 
Example  of  his  ancestors— His  motive  not  a  selfish  one— Time  and  place  for  the 
assassination  decided  on— Decimus  present  at  a  state  dinner  in  honor  of  Caesar 
on  evening  before  the  Ides  of  March— Urges  Caesar  to  attend  meeting  of  the 
senate— Leads  hun  into  the  citrta,  but  is  not  present  at  the  assassination— Caesar's 
friends  in  the  senate  make  no  attempt  to  defend  him— FUght  of  the  senators  and 
people— Conspirators  not  alone  responsible  for  the  death  of  Caesar— They  pro- 
ceed to  the  Forum  and  thence  to  the  Capitol— Their  progress  not  a  flight— Con- 
duct  of   Cinna— Dolabella   assumes   the   consulship— Conspirators   summoned 
from  the  Capitol— Speeches  of  Brutus  and  Cassius— They  return  to  the  Capitol 
and  deUberate  with  friends,  who  visit  them,  on  a  plan  of  acUon— Peace  commission 
sent  to  Antonius  and  Lepidus,  who  delay  their  reply— Their  fears— Decimus 
Brutus  leaves  his  confederates  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  and  goes  out  into  the  city 
to  use  his  influence  with  the  Caesarians  and  to  observe  the  mood  of  the  people— 
Lepidus  occupies  the  Forum— Antonius  refers  the  conspirators  to  the  senate- 
Attitude  of  the  various  parties  in  the  city— Conference  of  the  Caesarians— Military 
display  of  Antonius  and  Lepidus  causes  a  reaction  against  the  conspirators- 
Failure  of  the  conspirators  to  form  a  plan  of  action  beforehand  is  proof  that  they 
were  not  prompted  by  ambition— Purposes  of  Antonius— Letter  of  Decimus 
Brutus  to  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cassius— Meeting  of  the  senate  in  the  Temple  of 
Tellus— Amnesty— Validity  of  Caesar's  acts  confirmed— Reconciliation— Will  of 
Caesar— Public  funeral — Oration  of  Antonius  and  fury  of  the  populace. 

Ill 

Decimus'  Administration  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  the  War  with  Antonius.  . .  p.  71 
Decimus  Brutus  leaves  Rome  for  his  province  during  the  period  of  quiet  that  fol- 
lowed the  funeral  of  Caesar— Complaints  of  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cassius  against 
Decimus  unjust— Antonius  secures  by  violence  the  adoption  of  a  lex  giving  him 
both  Gauls  for  six  years,  including  the  year  44,  and  also  obtains  control  of  the 
Macedonian  legions— Decimus  Brutus  wages  war  with  the  Inalpini,  secures  the 


SUMMARY  OF  CONTENTS  7 

loyalty  of  his  troops,  and  is  saluted  as  imperatoTj  which  title  he  wishes  the  senate 
to  confirm — Cicero's  reply  to  the  letter  of  Brutxis — Decimus  encamps  at  Mutina 
in  September — Friends  of  Antonius  falsely  accuse  him  of  having  hired  a  slave  to 
assassinate   the   consul — Departure  of   Antonius   for   Brundisium — Activity  of 
Octavianus — He  sends  emissaries  to  win  over  the  Macedonian  legions  from 
Antonius — Consults  Cicero  and  on  his  advice  leads  his  army  to  Rome — Speaks 
against  Antonius — Establishes  his  headquarters  at  Arretium — Antonius  returns  to 
Rome  with  soldiers — Holds  a  contio  at  Tibur — Meeting  of  the  senate,  November 
28 — Martian  and  fourth  legions  desert  to  Octavianus,  and  Antonius  hastily  leaves 
Rome  for  Cisalpine  Gaul — Strength  of  his  army — Cicero  and  other  senators  write 
Decimus  Brutus  to  hold  his  province  against  Antonius — Decimus  asks  for  authori- 
zation of  the  senate — Cicero  ui^es  Decimus  not  to  wait  for  the  senate  to  act — 
Decimus'  resistance  to  Antonius  a  counter-revolution — He  issues  an  edict  against 
Antonius — Senate,  on  December  20,  approves  the  conduct  of  Decimus  in  holding 
his  province  against  Antonius — Cicero's  fourth  Philippic  and  letter  to  Decimus — 
Decimus  prepares  to  resist  Antonius  at  Mutina — Antonius  begins  the  siege  of  the 
town — Meeting  of  the  senate,  January  i — Cicero  opposes  the  sending  of  peace 
commissioners  to  Antonius,  but  urges  that  a  tumultus  be  decreed  and  the  senatus 
consuUutn  uUimum  be  adopted — ^Various  other  motions — Senate  refuses  to  decree 
a  tumultus  or  to  pass  the  senatus  consultum  uUimutn,  but  adopts  the  other  pro- 
posals of  Cicero  in  favor  of  Decimus  Brutus,  the  young  Caesar,  Lepidus,  and  the 
veterans — Senate  sends  peace  commissioners  to  Antonius  and  threatens  war  in 
case  he  refuses  to  accede  to  its  commands — Hirtius  leaves  Rome  to  take  command 
against  Antonius — Letter  of  Cicero  to  Decimus  Brutus — Seventh  Philippic — 
Embassy  to  Antonius  fails  to  accomplish  its  purpose — Antonius*  counter-pro- 
posab — TumuUus  and  senatus  consultum  uUimum — Lepidus  and  Plancus  sum- 
moned to  Italy — Cicero's  report  of  the  military  situation  in  the  beginning  of  Feb- 
ruary too  optimistic — Operations  of  Titus  Munatius  Plancus  and  activity  of 
Decimus  Brutus — Because  of  his  anxiety  for  safety  of  Decimus,  Cicero  in  the 
beginning  of  March  agrees  to  become  a  member  of  a  second  peace  embassy  to 
Antoniiis,  but  afterward  changes  his  mind,  and  in  the  twelfth  Philippic  shows 
the  folly  of  another  embassy — Antonius  endeavors  to  arrange  terms  with  Hirtius 
and  Caesar — Their  reply — Letter  of  Antonius — ^Hirtius  and  Caesar  advance  to 
within  a  few  miles  of  Mutina,  make  known  their  presence  to  Decimus,  and  send 
him  provisions — Desperate  situation  of  Decimus — Delay  of  the  consuls  in  going 
to  his  relief — His  heroic  persistence — Pansa  leaves  Rome  with  new  levies — 
Battle  of  Fonun  Gallorum — Serious  state  of  affairs  at  Rome  before  news  of  the 
victory  comes — Decrees  of  the  senate  in  honor  of  the  consuls  and  Octavianus — 
Appian's  report  of  the  battie  of  Mutina — Criticism  of  Dio's  account — Part  of 
Decimus  Brutus  in  the  battie — Decimus  urges  Caesar  to  intercept  Ventidius — 
Pursuit  of  Antonius  is  necessarily  delayed — Decimus  rests  his  men  at  Regium 
Lepidi — News  from  Mutina  reaches  Rome — Decrees  of  the  senate  not  unjust  to 
young  Caesar — ^Plans  of  Decimus — ^He  fears  Lepidus — Continues  his  pursuit  of 
Antonixis — Underestimates  the  strength  of  the  latter — Antonius,  en  route  to  join 
Lepidus,  attempts  to  obstruct  Decimus  on  his  way  to  unite  with  Plancus — ^Deci- 
mus anticipates  the  cavalry  of  Antonius  and  occupies  Pollentia — Movements  of 
Plancus — ^He  makes  an  agreement  to  co-operate  with  Lepidus  in  resisting  Antonius 
— Marches  to  join  Lepidus — Marcus  Antonius  arrives  at  Forum  luli,  May  15 — 


8 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Lepidus  arrives  at  Forum  Voconi— ffis  loyalty  to  the  repubUc  called  in  question 
—Complaints  at  Rome  against  Decimus  Brutus— Decimus  has  apprehensions  m 
regard  to  the  young  Caesar— He  learns  of  the  concert  of  Plancus  and  Lepidus 
against  Antonius— His  delay  in  crossing  the  Alps  occasioned  by  alarming  rumors 
of  the  designs  of  Caesar— Decimus  receives  reassuring  news  from  Rome— Cicero 
urges  him  to  end  the  war  with  Antonius— Treachery  of  Lepidus  and  retreat  of 
Plancus— Decimus  leaves  Eporedia— His  route  across  the  Alps— Writes  a  gloomy 
letter  to  Cicero  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  about  Lepidus- Unites  with  Plancus 
—Their  pUns— Lepidus  declared  a  hostis— Reasons  for  the  inactivity  of  Decimus 
and  Plancus— They  call  for  reinforcements— Caesar  obtains  the  consulship- 
Condemnation  of  the  Hberaores—VhiiicvLs  deserts  Decimus  and  joins  Antonius 
— FUght  and  death  of  Decimus  Brutus— Criticism  of  the  account  of  his  death  in 
Valerius  Maximus. 


•««. 


DATES  OF  IMPORTANT  EVENTS  CONNECTED  WITH  THE 

CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  AFTER 

THE  DEATH  OF  CAESAR 

44  B.  C. 
March  15 — 

1.  Caesar  is  assassinated  between  11  a.  m.  and  12  m.,  and  the  liberatores  proceed 
to  the  Forum,  hold  a  contio,  and  then  go  up  to  the  Capitol pp.  56  flf. 

2.  Slaves  bear  Caesar's  body  through  the  Forum  to  his  house p.  59 

3.  Cinna  appears  in  the  Forum  and  lays  aside  the  insignia  of  the  praetor. .  .p.  59 

4.  Dolabella  assumes  the  consulship pp.  59  f  • 

5.  M.  Brutus  and  Cassius  are  summoned  from  the  Capitol,  address  the  people 
in  the  Forum,  aiid  then  return  to  the  Capitol pp.  60  f . 

6.  Dolabella,  Cicero,  and  other  prominent  men  go  up  to  the  Capitol  in  the  evening 
and  consult  with  the  liberatores p.  61 

7.  The  liberatores  send  certain  consulares  to  Antonius  and  Lepidus  to  arrange 
terms  of  peace.     Antonius  and  Lepidus  defer  their  answer  to  the  next  day . . 

8.  Decimus  Brutus  leaves  his  confederates  on  the  Capitol  and  goes  down  into 
the  city pp.  62  flf. 

March  16 — 

1.  Before  daylight  Lepidus  occupies  the  Forum  with  troops  and  at  dawn  holds  a 
corttio p-  64 

2.  Antonius  gives  his  reply  to  the  representatives  of  the  liberatores p.  64 

3.  Many  flock  to  the  standards  of  Antonius  and  Lepidus,  who  are  in  arms.  Mes- 
sengers summon  the  veterans  of  Caesar  settled  in  the  towns  near  Rome  to  join 
the  consul  and  the  magister  equitum pp.  65  f . 

4.  Conference  of  the  Caesarians  late  in  the  afternoon pp.  65  f . 

5.  Antonius  summons  the  senate  for  the  17th  and  takes  measures  to  preserve  order 
in  the  city  during  the  night  of  the  i6th-i7th,  App.  ii.  125 pp.  65  f,  68 

6.  Conference  of  Decimus  Brutus  with  Hirtius  in  the  evening.  Decimus  demands 
for  himself  and  confederates  a  legatio  libera pp.  62  f . 

March  17 — 

I.  At  daylight  the  senate  assembles  in  the  Temple  of  Tellus p.  68 

9.  Decimus  Brutus  writes  Fam.  xi,  i.  1-5.  After  a  second  interview  with  Hirtius 
he  writes  Fam,  xi.  i.  6  and  dispatches  the  whole  letter  probably  before 
9  A.  M pp.  62  f,  68 

3.  Marcus  Brutus  addresses  the  people  and  the  veterans  on  the  Capitol  and  declares 
that  the  liberatores  did  not  intend  to  invalidate  the  acts  of  Caesar P-  69 

4.  Senatus  consuUa  passed,  conferring  amnesty,  confirming  the  acts  of  Caesar, 
and  esp>ecially  ratifying  Caesar's  grants  of  land  to  the  veterans P*  69 

5.  The  S.  C.  confirming  Caesar's  acts  made  a  lex  by  vote  of  the  i>eoplc p.  69 

6.  Public  reconciliation  effected  between  the  liberatores  and  the  consuls p-  69 

March  18 — Senate  decrees  that  Caesar's  will  be  published  and  that  he  be  given  a  state 
funeral pp.  69  f . 

9 


lO 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


44  B.  C. 
March  20  or  21 — Burial  of  Caesar.     Laudatio  funehris  of  Antonius P»  79 

April  8  {abotU) — Decimus  Brutus  leaves  Rome  for  his  province p.  71 

April  13 — Execution  of  the  Pseudo-Marius p-  7* 

June  {beginning) — ^The  lex  tribunicia  de  provinciis  constdaribus  and  the  lex  de  per- 
mutatione  provinciarum  give  Antonius  the  two  Gauls  for  six  years,  including  the 

year  44.    Antonius  also  secures  control  of  the  Macedonian  legions pp.  72  f, 

June  8 — At  a  conference  with  Cicero  at  Antium,  M.  Brutus  and  Cassius  find  fault 

with  the  inactivity  of  Decimus  Brutus pp-  7^  i- 

June,  July,  and  August — Decimus  Brutus  wages  war  with  the  Inalpini p.  73 

September — Decimus  Brutus  encamped  at  Mutina,  writes  Fam.  xi.  4  requesting  con- 
firmation of  his  title  of  imperator P-  73 

End  of  September  or  beginning  of  October — Cicero'  answers  in  Fam.  xi.  6.  i p-  74 

October  g — ^Antonius"  leaves  Rome  for  Bnmdisium  to  meet  the  four  Macedonian 

legions P-  74 

October  {middle) — Cicero  leaves  Rome p-  74 

October  ^November  $ — Octavianus  collects  an  army  of  veterans  in  Campania  and 

seeks  advice  from  Cicero PP*  74  ^' 

November  9 — Octavianus  holds  a  contio  at  Rome  against  Antonius p.  75 

November  {middle) — Antonius  returns  to  Rome  and  calls  a  meeting  of  the  senate  for 

November  24 PP-  75  ^• 

November  24 — Antonius  does  not  attend  the  meeting  of  the  senate  and  adjourns  it 

until  November  28 P-  7^ 

Between  November  24  and  November  28 — Contio  of  Antonius  at  Tibur p.  76 

November  28 — Meeting  of  the  senate.    Antonius  learns  of  the  desertion  of  the  fourth 
legion.    Hasty  distribution  of  the  praetorian  provinces.     Antonius  leaves  the 

dty  by  night  and  leads  his  army  to  Cisalpine  Gaul p-  76 

December  9 — Cicero  returns  to  Rome  and  in  Fam.  xi.  5  urges  Decimus  Brutus  to  hold 

his  province  against  Antonius P-  7^ 

Deumber  12  (  ?) — Cicero  replies  in  Fam.  xi.  7  to  a  lost  letter  of  Decimus  in  which  he 
had    asked  for    a  decree  of    the  senate  authorizing  him  to  hold  Cisalpine 

Gaul P-  77 

December  15 — ^Decimus  Brutus  issues  an  edict  refusing  to  surrender  his  province  to 

Antonius P-  7^ 

«  Cicero  returned  to  Rome  August  31  (Fam.  xii.  25. 3).  In  the  senate  on  September  i  Antonius 
threatened  to  pull  Cicero's  house  down  upon  his  head  because  Cicero  did  not  attend  the  meeting  {Phil,  i . 
zs,  V.  19).  On  September  a  Cicero  delivrred  Philippic  i  against  Antonius  who  was  absent  (Phil.  i.  16, 
T.  19;  Fam.  zii.  a.  i,  25.  3).  Between  September  a  and  19  Antonius  spent  several  days  at  the  villa  of 
lletdhis  at  Tibor  (Fam.  xii.  a.  x;  Phil.  v.  19.  ao).  On  September  19  Antonius  harangued  the  senate 
against  Qcero  who,  together  with  other  prominent  leaders,  was  absent  owing  to  fear  of  violence  from  the 
armed  men  whom  the  consul  had  stationed  about  the  building  (Fam.  z.  a.  i  xii.  a.  i,  3;  ^^*'-  ^-  ii3>  v. 
ao).  It  was  probably  not  until  Octoba  as  that  Cicero  began  to  drculate  privately  his  reply  (Philippic  n) 
to  Antonius'  tirade  against  him  (AU.  zv.  13.  i). 

•  In  the  beginning  of  October  (before  the  6th)  Antonius  erected  a  statue  to  Caesar  on  the  Rostra 
{Fmm.  xii.  3. 1).  On  October  a  he  indicated  to  the  people  his  intention  to  avenge  the  death  of  Caesar  (Fam. 
xii.  3.  a.,  a3.  3;  VeU.  u.  64.  3).  About  October  5  or  6  assassins  who  had  been  hired  by  OcUvianus  made 
an  ttntacccasful  attempt  on  the  Kie  of  Antooiut  (Fam.  xii.  33.  a). 


DATES  OF  IMPORTANT  EVENTS 


II 


44  B.  C. 

Deumber  20— Edict  of  Decimus  Brutus  published  at  Rome.  The  senate  meets. 
Cicero  delivers  Philippic  iii.  The  senate  authorizes  Decimus  and  the  other 
governors  to  continue  to  hold  their  provinces  until  successors  had  been  appointed. 
Cicero  delivers  Philippic  iv  to  the  people.     Writes  Fam.  xi.  6.  2,  3 pp.  78  f. 

December  20  (  ?)— Antonius  begins  the  siege  of  Mutina pp.  78,  80 

43  B.  C. 
January  i— Meeting  of  the  senate.    Peace  embassy  to  Antonius  proposed.     Cicero 

deUvers  Philippic  v pp.  80  f. 

January  3 — Senate  praises  Decimus  Brutus,  votes  a  statue  to  Lepidus,  decrees  honors 

to  Octavianus,  and  rewards  to  the  soldiers  who  had  deserted  Antonius.  .pp.  80  f. 

January  4 — Senate  decrees  an  embassy  to  Antonius.      Philippic  vi  delivered  to  the 

people PP-  ^^  ^• 

January  5 — Ambassadors  to  Antonius  set  out  from  Rome p.  82 

Soon  after  January  5— Hirtius  leaves  with  a  small  force  for  Cisalpine  Gaul p.  82 

January  24 — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  8 PP-  82  f. 

End  of  January — Cicero  delivers  Philippic  vii p-  83 

February  1 — Ambassadors  return  with  counter-proposals  from  Antonius p.  83 

February  2 — TumuUus  decreed,  the  senatus  consultum  uUimum  probably  passed,  and 

Lepidus  and  Plancus  summoned  to  Italy P-  84 

February  ^—Philippic  viii.     Decree  that  soldiers  who  leave  Antonius  by  March  i 

be  pardoned.     Dispatch  from  Hirtius  read  in  the  senate p.  84 

February  4 — Saga  is  assvimed P-  84 

February  {beginning)— Cicero  delivers  Philippic  ix  in  eulogy  of   Servius  Sulpicius, 

and,  a  few  days  later,  PhUippic  x PP-  83.  8$ 

February  {end) — ^Titus  Plancus  forced  out  of  Pollentia p.  85 

March  {beginning)— Ven^^us  Bassus  arrives  at  Ancona p.  85 

March  5  ( t)— PhUippic  xi P-  85 

March  6  (  ?) — ^New  embassy  to  Antonius  voted p-  86 

March  7  (  H)— PhUippic  xii pp.  85  f. 

March  19 — Pansa  leaves  Rome  with  new  levies P-  88 

March  20— PhUippic  xiii:    Comment    on  the  letter  of    Antonius  to  Hirtius  and 

Caesar P-  ^^ 

March  {latter  half)— ^r^yi&  and   Caesar  advance  to  the  river  Scultenna  near 

Mutina P-  ^^' 

March  (emi)— Decimus  Brutus  in  desperate  straits  owing  to  lack  of  provisions,  .p.  87 

AprU  14 — Battle  of  Fonma  Gallorum PP-  88  . 

j^p^  18— Rxmiors    in    Rome   of   a  victory  of   Antonius.      His  partisans  create 

disorder P-  ^ 

AprU  20 — Counter-demonstration  in  favor  of  Cicero.    News  of  the  victory  of  the 

republican  generals P-  89 

AprU  21 — PhUippic  xiv.     Supplicationes  of  fifty  days  in  favor  of  the  constils  and 
Octavianus P-  89 


r 


13 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


43B.  C.  . 

AprU  21— BatUe  of  Mutina pp.  89  ff. 

AprU  22— Antonius  raises  the  siege  of  Mutina  and  begins  his  march  toward  the  Alps. 

Dedmus  Brutus  has  an  interview  with  Caesar P-  93 

AprU  23 — Decimus  Brutus  on  his  way  to  Bononia  learns  of  the  death  of  Pansa  and 

returns  to  Mutina P*  93 

AprU  24 — Decimus  starts  in  pursuit  of  Antonius ?•  94 

AprU  26— Decimus  arrives  at  Regium  Lepidi p.  94 

AprU  26— Plancus  crosses  tl    Rhone  to  march  into  Italy P-  99 

AprU  26— News  of  the  battle  of  Mutina  reaches  Rome.     Senate  declares  Antonius  a 

hosHs.    Honors  to  Decimus  Brutus,  the  dead  consuls,  and  Octavianus p.  94 

AprU  27 ^News  of  the  release  of   Decimus   Brutus  from  Mutina  reaches  Rome. 

Motion  made  by  Cicero  that  Decimus'  name  be  honored  in  the  calendar  is  lost. 

Decimus  intrusted  with  the  army  of  the  consuls  and  the  conduct  of  the  war 

with  Antonius PP-  94  f- 

AprU  29— Decimus  writes  Fam.  xi.  9;   leaves  Regium  Lepidi p.  96 

AprU  30— Decimus  at  Parma;  Fam.  xi.  13a. 

j^ay  3 — Antonius  and  Ventidius  unite  at  Vada P-  95 

j/ay  5— Decimus  arrives  at  Dertona,  learns  of  the  union  of  Antonius  with  Ventidius, 

and  writes  Fam.  xi.  10 PP-  95  ^• 

May  6— Decimus  in  the  country  of  the  Statiellenses  secures  memoranda  of  Antonius 

which  show  that  his  plan  is  to  imite  with  Lepidus;  writes  Fam.  xi.  11 p.  97 

May  8  or  9 — ^L.  Antonius  arrives  at  Forum  luli  in  the  province  of  Lepidtis p.  99 

May  II  (  ?) — Decimus  Brutus  prevents  the  cavahy  of  Antonius  from  seizing  PoUen- 

tia.     Writes  Fam.  xi.  13.  1-4 P*  9^ 

May  12 — Plancus  crosses  the  Isfcre  on  his  march  to  join  Lepidus p.  99 

jf^y  15— M.  Antonius  arrives  at  Forum  luli PP-  99  ^• 

jfay  ij—Dedmus  learns  from  Planc\is  that  Lepidus  will  not  receive  Antonius. p.  102 
May  17  (?) — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  12.     Disappointment  at  Rome  that  Antonius 

has  not  been  crushed PP-  '^^  ^ 

May  18— Lepidus  arrives  at  the  Argenteus,  twenty-four  miles  from  Forum  luli,  where 

Antonius  was  encamped P-  '°' 

2iay  19— Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  18  to  quiet  the  apprehensions  of  Dedmus  in  regard 

to  Octavianus p.  102 

May  21 — Decimus  Brutus,  at  Vercellae,  sends  a  dispatch  to  the  senate,  and  writes 

Fam.  xi.  19 P-  ^°3 

j/ay  34— Dedmus  has  reached  Eporedia.     He  writes  Cicero  in  Fam.  xi.  20  concerning 

the  complaints  of  Octavianus  and  the  veterans pp-  103  ^• 

j/ay  25— Decimus  writes  from  Eporedia  Fam.  xi.  23;  trusts  in  the  loyalty  of  Lepidus 

and  Plancus;  is  apprehensive  of  the  young  Caesar;  will  not  leave  Italy  until  he 

hears  from  Cicero P-  ^^4 

About  May  27 — Dedmus  leaves  Eporedia  and  proceeds  toward  the  Alps p.  106 

May  29 — Antonius  and  his  troops  received  into  camp  of  Lepidus.     Antonius  marches 

against  Plancus  who  retreats  toward  the  Isire p-  105 


DATES  OF  IMPORTANT  EVENTS 


13 


43  B-  C. 
May  30 — Lepidus  endeavors  to  explain  his  treachery  in  a  dispatch  to  the  senate,  and 
follows  Antonius p.  105 

June  3 — Decimus,  on  the  march,  learns  of  the  treachery  of  Lepidus.     Demands  rein- 
forcements from  the  senate  in  Fam.  xi.  26 p.  106 

June  4 — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  21  in  reply  to  Fam.  xi.  20 pp.  104  f. 

June  4 — Plancus  recrosses  the  Isfere p.  105 

June  6 — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  24  in  reply  to  Fam.  xi.  2.^ p.  105 

June  8  {probably) — Decimus  Brutus  arrives  at  Cularo.     He  and  Plancus  send  a  joint 
dispatch  to  the  senate.     Fam.  xi.  13b p.  105  f 

June  18 — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  25  in  reply  to  Fam.  xi.  26. 

June  25 — Cicero  writes  Fam.  xi.  15  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  union  of  Decimus 
and  Plancus p.  107 

June  30 — Lepidus  declared  a  hostis  by  the  senate p.  107 

July  6— Cicero3  commends  Appius  Claudius  to  Decimus  Brutus  in  Fam.  xi.  22 . 

July  28 — Plancus  explains  the  inactivity  of  himself  and  Decimus p.  107 

August  19 — Octavianus  and  Q.  Pedius  chosen  consuls p.  108 

A  little  after  Augusf  19. — Trial  and  condemnation  of  the  liberatores p.  108 

August  {end) — Plancus     deserts    Decimus    and    joins    Antonius.     Flight     of 

Decimus p.  108 

September  {middle) — Decimus  Brutus  slain  by  order  of  Antonius pp.  109  f . 

>  The  two  remaining  letters  of  commendation  (Fam.  xi.  16,  17)  that  Cicero  wrote  to  Decimus  have 
not  been  dated.  They  belong  inx>bably  to  May  or  June  and  concern  the  candidacy  of  L.  Lamia  for  the 
praetor&hip. 


SELECTED  LIST  OF  BOOKS,  ARTICLES,  AND 

DISSERTATIONS 

O'Addozio,  v.     De  M.  Bruti  vita  et  studiis  doctrinae  (Naples,  1895). 

Becher,  F.    Dc  Ciceronis  quae  fenintur  ad  Brutum  Epistulis  scripsit  (Harburg, 

1876). 
"Uber  die  Sprache  der  Briefe  ad  Brutum,"  Rheinisches  Museum  fiir  Phi' 

lologie,  1882. 

"Die  sprachliche  Eigenart  der  Briefe  ad  Brutum,"  Philologus,  1885,  p.  471- 


BODEWiG,  R.    De  proeliis  apud  Mutinam  commissis  (Dissertation,  Barmen,  1886). 

BoissiER,  G.     Cicero  and  His  Friends  (translated  by  Jones;  New  York,  1897). 

BKt^GGEMANN,  F.  De  Marci  Aem.  Lepidi  vita  et  rebus  gestis  (Dissertation,  MUnster, 
1887). 

Bynum,  E.  Das  Lebcn  des  M.  lunius  Brutus  bis  auf  Caesars  Ermordung  (Disserta- 
tion, Halle,  1897). 

Cauer,  F.     Ciceros  politisches  Denken  (Berlin,  1903). 

COBET,  C.  G.     "Ad  epistolas  Ciceronis  et  Bruti,"  Mnemosyne,  Vol.  VII,  1879. 

FsdHLiCH,  F.  De  rebus  inde  a  Caesare  occiso  usque  ad  senatum  liberalibus  habitum 
gestis  (Dissertation,  Berlin,  1807). 

Ganter,  L.  "  Chronologische  Untersuchungen  zu  Ciceros  Philippischen  Reden," 
Jahrbuch  filr  Philologie,  1894. 

Gardthausen,  V.     Augustus  und  seine  Zeit,  I.  i  and  II.  i  (Leipzig,  1891). 

Groebe,  p.  De  legibus  et  senatus  consultis  anni  710  quaestiones  chronologicae 
(Dissertation,  Berlin,  1893). 

—  Drumann,  Geschichte  Roms,  Zweite  Auflage,  I,  Anhang  (Berlin,  1899). 
GtTRLiTT,  L.     "Briefwechsel  zwischen  Cicero  und  Dedmus  Brutus,"  Jahrbuch  fUr 

Philologie,    1880. 

"Die  Briefe  Ciceros  ad  M.  Brutum  auf  ihre  Echtheit  geprtift,"  Philologus^ 

Supplementsband  IV,  1883. 

"Drei  Suasoriae  in  Briefform,"  Philologus,  Supplementsband  V,  1889. 

"Archctypus  der  Brutusbriefe,"  Jahrbuch  fur  Philologie,  1885  and  189a. 


Hagen,  M.  von.     Quaestiones  criticae  de  bello  Mutinensi  (Marburg,  1887). 

HiNZ,  C.  Zur  Beurteilung  Appians  und  Plutarchs  in  der  Darstellung  der  Ereignisse 
von  der  Ermordung  Caesars  bis  zum  Tode  des  M.  Brutus  (Jena,  1891). 

HOLZAPPEL,  L.  "Zur  Geschichte  des  Mutinensischen  Krieges,"  Jahrbuch  fUr  Phi- 
lologie, 1894. 

JULLIEN,  E.     De  L.  Comelio  Balbo  Maiore  (Dissertation,  Paris,  1886). 

Le  fondateur  de  Lyon:  Histoire  de  L.  Munatius  Plancus  (Paris,  1892). 

Krause,  P.  Appian  als  Quelle  ftir  die  Zeit  von  der  Verschworung  gegen  Caesar  bis 
zum  Tode  des  Dedmus  Brutus  (Programme,  Rastenburg,  1880). 

14 


SELECTED  LIST  OF  BOOKS  AND  ARTICLES 


IS 


Kruegeil     De  rebus  inde  a  beUo  Hispaniensi  usque  ad  Caesaris  necem  gestis  (Bonn 
1895).  ^         ^  ' 

Lange,  L.     Rdmische  Alterthttmer,  Vols.  II,  III  (Berlin,  1879). 
Melber,  J.     "Der  Bericht  des  Dio  Cassius  Uber  die  Seeschlacht  des  D.  Brutus  gegen 
die  Veneter,"  CommenkUiones  Woelfflinianae  (Ldpzig,  1891). 

Meyer,  P.     Untersuchung  tiber  die  Frage  der  Echtheit  des  Briefwechsels  Cicero  ad 
Brutum  (Stuttgart,  1881). 

MGllemeister,  p.     Bemerkungen  zur  Strdtfrage  uber  die  Echtheit  der  Brutus- 
bnefe,  I.  16  and  17  (Programme,  Emmerich,  1897). 

Mueller,  R.     De  rebus  iade  a  Caesaris  nece  usque  ad  funus  Romae  gestis  (Mon- 
astern,  1884).  ^         ^ 

Nake,  B.     "Der  Briefwechsel  zwischen  Cicero  und  Dedmus  Brutus,"  Jahrbuch  fUr 

Philologie,  1875-76,  Supplementsband  VIII. 
Oman,  C.     Seven  Roman  Statesmen  (London,  1902). 

Paulus,  M.     De  Decimo  lunio  Bruto  Albino  commentatio  historica  (MUnster,  1889). 
Peter,  H.     Die  Quellen  Plutarchs  in  den  Biographieen  der  Romer  (Halle,  1865). 

RiBBECK.     Senatores  Romani  qui  fuerint  Idibus  Martiis  anni  A.  U.  C.  710  (Berlin 
1899).  ^ 

RISSE,  K.     De  gestis  Sexti  Pompei  (Dissertation,  Miinster,   1882). 

RUETE,  E.     Die  Correspondenz  Ciceros  in  den  Jahren  44  und  43  (Marburg,  1883). 

SCHELLE,  E.     Bdtrage  zur  Geschichte  des  Todeskampfes  der  romischen  RepubUk 
(Dresden,  1891).  *^ 

-  Der  neueste  Angriflf  auf  die  Echthdt  der  Briefe  ad  M.  Brutum  (Dresden, 

SCHIRMER,  K.     Uber  die  Sprache  des  M.  Brutas  (Metz,  1884). 

Schmidt,  O.  E.     De  epistulis  et  a  Cassio  et  ad  Cassium  post  Caesarem  ocdsum  datis 
(Leipzig,   1877). 

Die  letzten  Kimpfe  der  rSmischen  RepubUk  (Leipzig,  1884). 

-  "Zur  Chronologie  der  Correspondenz  Ciceros  seit  Caesars  Tode,"  Jahrbuch 
far  Philologie,  1884. 

"M.  lunius  BmUis,*'VerhandlungenderGMitzerPhilologenversammlung, 


1889. 


"M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  epistularum  ad  M.  Brutum  Uber  I,"  Philologus,  1890. 
"Bdtrage  zur  Kritik  der  Briefe  Ciceros  an  M.  Brutus  und  zur  Geschichte 


des  Mutinensischen  Krieges,"  Jahrbuch  fUr  Philologie,  1890 
—    "Ventidius  Bassus,"  Philologus,  1892 

Der  Briefwechsel  des  M.  TuIUus  Cicero  (Leipzig,   1893). 


SCHMIOT,  O.  E.     "Der  Tag  der  Schlacht  von  Mutina,"  Jahrbuch  fur  Philologie, 

-    "Studien  zur  Ciceros  Briefen  an  Atticus,"  Rheinisches  Museum  fiir  Philo- 
logte,  1900. 

Shuckburg,  E.  S.     Augustus:  Life  and  Times  of  the  Founder  of  the  Roman  Empire 
(London,  1903). 


i6 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Schwartz,  E.     "Die  Vcrteilung  der  romischen  Provinzcn  nach  Caesars  Tod,"  Her- 
mes,  1898. 

"Appianus,"  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encyclopaedie,  Vol.  II. 

"Cassius  Dio  Cocceianus,"  Pauly-Wissowa,  Vol.  III. 

Seeck,  O.     Kaiser  Augustus  (Leipzig,  1902). 

Stehnkopp,  W.     "Ciceros  Brief wechsel  mit  D.  Brutus  und  die  Senatssitzung  vom 

20.  Dczember,  44,"  Philologus,  1901. 
VOGELER,  L.     Quae  anno  u.  710  post  mortem  C.  lulii  Caesaris  acta  sint  in  senatu 

Romano  (Dissertation,   Leipzig,    1877). 
Wegehaxjpt,  W.  p.     Cornelius  Dolabella  (M.  Gladbach,  1880). 
WiEGANDT,  L.     Caesar  und  die  tribunische  Gewalt  (Dresden,  1890). 
WiLLENBtJCHER,  H.     Caesars  Ermordung  (Giitersloh,  1898). 


THE  CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  THE  YEAR 

45  B.  C. 

Decimus  Junius  Brutus  Albinus  was  probably  born  in  the  year 
85  B.  c.  He  was  praetor  in  45,*  and  Caesar,  in  preparing  for  his 
intended  absence  from  Rome  on  the  Parthian  expedition,  had  desig- 
nated him  consul  for  42.^  If  he  was  legally  old  enough  to  be  praetor 
in  45,  he  would  have  reached  the  consular  age  in  42,  and  the  year 
of  his  birth  must  have  been  not  later  than  85.*  Of  course,  it  is 
possible  that  Caesar  disregarded  the  age  requirement  in  designating 
him  for  the  consulship,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  Dolabella*  and  of 
Antonius.**  But  in  the  case  of  Decimus,  that  part  of  the  law  which 
required  an  interval  of  two  years  between  the  praetorship  and  the 
consulship  was  observed,  and  this  favors  the  presumption  that  the 
provision  in  regard  to  the  age  requirement  was  also  followed.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  assumed  that  Decimus  was  not  bom 
before  85 ;  for  it  is  likely  that  a  man  of  his  ability  and  influence 
would  attain  the  magistracies  at  the  earliest  age  allowed  by  the 
law.  The  fact  that  Caesar  in  the  De  Bello  GcUlico  ®  as  late  as  51  ^ 
designates  him  as  adolescens  throws  little  light  upon  the  question 
of  his  age  at  that  time:  Caesar  could  very  well  have  called  him 
adolescens  to  distinguish  him  from  his  father  of  the  same  name,® 
who  may  have  been  still  living.  The  day  that  the  news  of  Decimus* 
release  from  the  siege  of  Mutina  became  known  in  Rome — that  is, 
April  27® — was  the  anniversary  of  his  birth.  Hence  April  27,  85 
B.  c,  may  be  assumed  as  the  date  of  his  birth. 

He  was  the  son  of  that  Decimus  Junius  Brutus  who  was  consul 
in  jy}^    This  is  made  evident  by  their  identical  praenomina,  con- 

»  Vide  infra,  p.  37. 

•  Veil.  ii.  60.  5;  App.  B.  C.  iii.  98;  Dio  xliv.  14.  4. 

«  Cic.  Phil.  V,  49;  Abbott,  Roman  Political  Institutions,  p.  169. 

4  Dio  xliii.  51.  8;  xliv.  aa.  i,  53.  i;  Phil.  ii.  80;  App.  ii.  129;  iii.  88. 

s  Antonius,  consul  in  44,  was  born  in  82.    Groebe's  Drutnann,  I.  Anhang.  p.  401. 

•iii.  II.  s;  vii.  9.  i,  87.  i. 

»  When  the  De  Bdlo  Gallico  was  published:  Schanz,  Geschichte  der  Rdm.  Lit.,  I,  pp,  204  f. 

•  Thesaurus  Linguae  Latinae,  s.  v.  adolescens,  I.  B. 

•  Gc.  Ad  fam.  xi.  14.  3;  Ad  Brut.  i.  15.  8;  Schnoidt,  Jahrb.  /.  PhU.,  1892,  p.  333,  and  infra,  pp.  94  £. 
«•  C.  /.  L.,  I  (3),  Pt.  I.  p.  154. 

17 


i8 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


sidered  in  connection  with  the  respective  periods  in  which  their 
activities  fell,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  Decimus  Brutus  who  was 
consul  in  yj  and  his  wife  Sempronia  are  known  to  have  had  chil- 
dren at  the  time  of  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline  in  63."  The  father 
of  this  Brutus  was  in  turn  Decimus  Junius  Brutus,  consul  in  138, 
who  was  called  Gallaecus.  The  father  of  Gallaecus  and  great- 
grandfather of  our  Brutus  was,  as  we  learn  from  Cicero,^*  a  Marcus 
Junius  Brutus.  This  could  not  have  been  the  Marcus  Brutus  who 
was  named  by  Pomponius"  as  one  of  the  three  founders  of  the 
civil  law.  The  Brutus  named  by  Pomponius,  inasmuch  as  he 
flourished  just  before  the  times  of  Marius,^*  was  a  contemporary  of 
Gallaecus  and,  if  we  may  judge  by  his  praenomen,  an  older  brother. 
Hence  Gallaecus  must  have  been  the  son  of  some  other  Marcus 
Brutus,  and  none  fits  better  from  the  point  of  view  of  time  than  the 
consul  of  the  year  178.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  father,  grand- 
father, and  great-grandfather  of  Decimus  Brutus  Albinus  were  all 

consuls. 

Marcus  Junius  Brutus,  the  great-grandfather  of  Decimus,  rose 
to  place  and  influence  at  a  time  when  the  senate  was  the  supreme 
power  in  the  state.    His  political  success  is  evidence  for  the  belief  that 
he  was  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  rule  of  the  senatorial  oligarchy. 
His  conservative   attitude   is   shown  by   the   opposition   which,   as 
tribune,  he,  together  with  his  colleague  and  brother,  Publius  Junius 
Brutus,"  made  to  the  repeal  of  the  lex  Oppia^Si  law  that  had  been 
passed  in  the  stress  of  the  Second  Punic  War  to  restrain  the  luxury 
of  women.    Elected  to  the  praetorship  for  191,  the  double  jurisdic- 
tion of  praetor  urbanus  and  praetor  peregrinus  fell  to  his  lot.    The 
further  task  of  superintending  the  dock-yards,  and  refitting  and 
equipping  old  ships   for  the  war  with  Antiochus  the  Great,  was 
imposed  upon  him  in  consequence  of  the  departure  to  Greece  of  his 
colleague,  C.  Livius,  with  the  ships  already  prepared.^*    As  praetor, 
he  dedicated  the  temple  of  the  Great  Idaean  Mother;  on  which 
occasion  the  Pseudolus  of  Plautus  was  presented  for  the  first  time." 
In  189  he  was  one  of  the  ten  legati  sent  by  the  senate  to  arrange 
terms  of  peace  with  Antiochus.^"    Consul  in  178,  he  undertook  with 
his  colleague  the  war  against  the  Histri  and  brought  it  to  a  success- 

"  SaU.  Cat.  as,  40.  "  Cic.  Brut.  85.  107.  **  I>*r^  I-  »•  »•  39- 

M  Qc.  Bna.  I7s;  Adfam.  vU.  aa;  De  orat.  u.  214;  De  fin.  i.  la;  Pro  Clutnt.  141. 

«s  Uv.  miv.  I,  3  U  Val.  Max.  viUi.  1.  3.  **  ^'''  "^-  '  ^'  '*'  ''• 

»  Ut.  xDvi.  36.  4.    Schaiu.  GtsckickU  der  Rim.  LU.,  I.  p.  57-         *•  Uv.  xxxrii.  ss-  7- 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45  B.  C. 


19 


ful  end  in  the  following  year.**  With  two  other  commissioners,*® 
he  was  sent  to  Asia  in  171,  to  induce  the  allies,  especially  the 
Rhodians,  to  make  war  on  behalf  of  the  Romans  against  Perseus 
of  Macedon,  whose  title  of  king  had  been  bestowed  on  him  by  the 
senate  in  Brutus'  own  consulship.^*  We  last  hear  of  this  Brutus  as 
an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  censorship  in  169.** 

Decimus  Junius  Brutus  Gallaecus,  son  of  the  preceding  Brutus 
(consul,  138),  signalized  his  consulship  by  the  opposition  which  he, 
in  conjunction  with  his  colleague,  P.  Scipio  Nasca,  made  to  the 
tribunes  and  the  populace.  According  to  Valerius  Maximus,^*  the 
tribune  C.  Curiatius  cited  the  consuls  to  appear  before  the  assembly, 
and  there  tried  to  induce  them  to  submit  to  the  senate  a  measure 
providing  that  grain  be  purchased  for  the  people  by  the  state  and 
that  commissioners  be  appointed  to  attend  to  the  matter.  Scipio, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  presiding  consul  at  that  time,  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  opposition  to  the  suggestion  of  Curiatius. 
From  the  Epitome  of  Livy  we  learn  that  when  the  tribunes  did  not 
obtain  the  right  of  exempting  ten  men  apiece  from  the  levies  which 
the  consuls  were  making  for  the  wars  in  Spain,  they  ordered  the 
consuls  to  be  cast  into  prison."  This  Brutus  also  distinguished 
himself  by  his  military  achievements  in  Further  Spain.  He  gave 
lands  to  the  Lusitanian  captives  who  had  been  taken  in  the  wars 
with  Viriathus  and  established  for  them  a  new  town,  Valentia,  near 
Saguntum.^*  He  then  completed  the  subjugation  of  Lusitania, 
being  the  first  Roman  commander  to  advance  as  far  as  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.*'  He  also  conquered  the  Gallaeci,  a  people  of  northwestern 
Spain,  by  a  great  battle  in  which  50,000  of  them  were  slain,  6,000 
captured,  and  only  a  few  escaped.*^  From  this  victory  he  earned 
the  cognomen  ex  virtute  of  Gallaecus.*®  Summoned  from  Further 
Spain  by  Aemilius  Lepidus  in  136,  Brutus  assisted  that  ofiicer  in 
the  siege  of  Pallantia,  a  town  of  the  Vaccaei,  in  north  central 
Spain.  This  war,  undertaken  by  Lepidus  against  the  orders  of  the 
senate  and  without  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  Vaccaei,  was  a 
failure.    Lepidus  and  Brutus,  when  their  armies  had  been  reduced 

*•  liv.  zli.  5,  7,  10,  11;  Jul.  Obs.  6a.  **  liv.  xliii.  14.  x. 

••  Liv.  zlii.  45.  ■>  Val.  Max.  iii.  7.  3. 

•»  Liv.  xlv.  9.  3.  •«  Liv.  Epit.  55;  Cic  De  Ugg.  iii.  ao. 

•»  Liv.  Epit.  55.  ••  Liv.  Epit.  55;  App.  Hisp.  73-7S;  Cic.  Pro  Balb.  40. 

■*  Liv.  Epit.  56;  Oros.  v.'s.  la;    Strabo  iii.  3.  i  (p.  15a);  Flor.  i.  33.  la;  Val.  Max.  vi.  4.  Ext.  u 

•>  VeU.  ii.  s;  Scfaol.  Bob.  in  Arch.  (OreUi).  p.  359. 


1 


20 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45  B.  C. 


21 


almost  to  starvation,  were  forced  to  raise  the  siege  a«id  retire  by 
night,  and  nothing  but  the  enemy's  failure  to  pursue  them  saved 
them  from  utter  destruction.'**  Brutus,  however,  in  136  celebrated 
a  triumph  over  the  Gallaeci  and  Lusitani.'®  There  is  a  story  in 
Valerius  Maximus  which  seems  to  imply  that  his  conduct  in  dealing 
with  the  Spaniards  was  marked  by  avarice.^^  Be  that  as  it  may, 
he  showed  his  liberality  at  home  by  dedicating  temples  from  the 
spoils  of  war,'^  one  of  which  was  the  Temple  of  Mars  erected  near 
the  Circus  Maximus.^'  The  fronts  of  these  temples  he  adorned 
with  the  verses  of  his  friend,  the  poet  Accius.'*  We  learn  from  the 
Epitome  of  Livy  **  that  in  129,  although  C.  Sempronius,  the  consul, 
had  at  first  been  unsuccessful  in  the  war  with  the  lapydes,  he  was 
afterward  victorious,  thanks  to  the  valor  of  Decimus  Brutus.  In 
the  beginning  of  121  Brutus  commanded  the  armed  force  of  the 
aristocracy  that  attacked  and  slaughtered  the  partisans  of  Gains 
Gracchus,  who,  under  the  leadership  of  Marcus  Fulvius,  had 
intrenched  themselves  on  the  Aventine.'*  According  to  Cicero,  he 
was  an  augur  ^^  and  a  polished  orator,  well  trained  for  his  times 
both  in  Latin  and  Greek  literature.*®  His  death  occurred  before 
that  of  the  poet  Accius.^®    His  wife  Clodia  survived  him.*" 

Decimus  Junius  Brutus,  the  father  of  the  Decimus  Brutus  with 
whom  we  are  chiefly  concerned,  first  appears  in  history,  so  far  as 
we  know,  in  the  eventful  year  100.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  he 
is  expressly  mentioned  by  Cicero*^  as  one  of  those  who  took  up 
arms  against  the  tribune  Saturninus,  the  praetor  Glaucia,  and  their 
party  when,  besides  the  magistrates,  cuncta  nobilitas  ac  inventus 
ran  together  in  rage  to  put  to  death  those  turbulent  leaders  of  the 
democracy.  Brutus  was  at  the  time  probably  a  very  young  man, 
but  he  must,  from  this  passage,  have  shared  in  the  indignation  of 
the  nobilitas  at  the  test  oath  for  senators  embodied  in  the  agrarian 
law  of  Saturninus,  and  thus  have  been  quite  ready  with  the  rest  to 
repay  mob  violence  in  kind  and  to  wreak  vengeance  on  those  demo- 
crats whom  he  considered  enemies  of  the  state.*'*    During  the  inter- 

••  App.  Hisp.  80-83.  "  Val.  Max.  vi.  4.  Ext.  1. 

»•  Eutrop.  iv.  iq;  Plut.  Tib.  Gr.  ai.  **  Val.  Max.  viii.  14.  a. 

M  Plin.  N.  H.  xxxvi.  5.  a6;  Schol.  Bob.  in  Arch.  (Orelli).  p.  359- 

»*  Cic.  Pro  Arch,  a?;  Val.  Max.  viii.  14-3;  Schol.  Bob.  loc.  cit. 

»»  Lib.  59.  **  Oros.  v.  la.  '»  Cic.  De  amicit.  7.  »•  Cic.  Brut.  107. 

••  Qc.  loc.  cit.    Acdus  lived  until  about  86— Teuffel  &  Schwabe  (Warr),  I.  p.  igx. 

4*  Att.  xii.  aa.  a.  **  Cic.  Pro  Rabirio  ai.  *•  App.  B.  C  I.  38-33. 


val  between  100  and  yy,  a  period  marked  by  the  Social  War  and 
the  legislation  resulting  therefrom,  by  the  civil  wars  between 
Marius  and  Sulla,  by  the  Mithridatic  wars,  and  by  the  triumph  and 
domination  of  Sulla,  not  a  word  do  we  hear  of  Decimus  Brutus. 

Even  for  the  year  yy,  when  he  was  consul,  we  have  no  record  of 
his  activity  either  as  statesman  or  as  general.  From  the  senatus 
consultum  ultimum  which  was  passed  in  the  beginning  of  that  year 
against  Lepidus,  the  leader  of  the  democratic  revolt  against  the 
Sullan  constitution,  uti  Appius  Claudius  interrex,  etc.,**  we  infer 
that  the  consuls  for  the  year  had  not  yet  been  elected.  But  we 
know  from  a  speech  that  Sallust  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Lepidus  that 
Decimus  Brutus  was  reckoned  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  con- 
servative nobilitas  ^^  even  though  he  had  no  active  part  in  putting 
down  the  sedition  of  Lepidus.  We  do  not  hear  of  him  again  until 
the  year  74,  when  Verres  was  praetor.  It  seems  that  the  young  son 
of  P.  lunius  Brutus,  a  relative  (perhaps  a  brother)  of  Decimus 
Brutus,  held  by  inheritance  a  contract  which  called  for  the  keeping 
in  repair  of  the  Temple  of  Castor  at  Rome.**'  The  business  of  inspect- 
ing the  condition  of  this  and  of  other  public  buildings  was  assigned 
to  the  praetors,  C.  Verres  and  P.  Coelius.  Although  the  temple  was 
in  good  repair,  one  of  the  minions  of  Verres  suggested  to  him  that  the 
shafts  of  the  columns  were  not  perpendicular.  Verres  seized  upon 
this  flimsy  pretext  and  demanded  that  the  young  Brutus  forfeit  his 
contract  with  the  state  on  the  ground  of  non-performance.  The  estate 
of  Decimus  Brutus  was  involved  as  security,  and  he  was  forced  to 
pay  over  to  Verres'  secretary  560,000  sesterces  forfeit  money.  When 
the  contract  had  been  let  anew,  Verres  was  constrained  to  refund 
110,000  sesterces.**  From  this  transaction  it  will  be  seen  that  Deci- 
mus Brutus  was  a  man  of  considerable  wealth.  He  was  also  a 
scholar  and  busy  pleader,  as  we  learn  from  the  testimony  of  Cicero : 
Multum  etiam  in  causis  versabatur  isdem  fere  temporibus  D. 
Brutus,  is  qui  consul  cum  Mamerco  fuit,  homo  et  Graecis  doctus 
litteris  et  Latinis.*'' 

Sallust  *®  informs  us  that  Sempronia,  the  wife  of  Decimus  Brutus 
and  mother  of  Decimus  Brutus  Albinus,  was  involved  in  the  con- 
spiracy of  Catiline.    He  mentions  her  as  one  of  a  number  of  women 


4*  Sail.  Ex.  hist..  Or.  Phil.  aa. 
**  Sail.  Ex.  hist..  Or.  Lep.  3. 
*i  In  Verr.  Act.  ii.  lib.  I.  130. 


**  In  Verr.,  loc.  cit.  and  144,  150. 
•»  Qc.  Brut.  175. 
*•  SaU.  Cat.  24,  as. 


22 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45  B.  C. 


23 


who  had  lived  immoral  and  extravagant  lives  and  who,  with  the 
passing  of  their  youth,  had  lost  their  means  of  gain  and  were  now 
overwhelmed  with  debt.  It  was  this  class  of  women  that,  according 
to  Sallust,  Catiline  had  attached  to  his  cause  in  the  belief  that  through 
them  he  could  enlist  the  slaves  under  his  banner,  set  fire  to  the  city, 
and  secure  either  the  co-operation  or  the  destruction  of  their  hus- 
bands. In  this  account  Sempronia  is  represented  as  a  woman  of 
extraordinary  passion  and  daring,  utterly  regardless  of  her  honor  or 
chastity,  a  reckless  spendthrift,  and  even  a  murderess.  She  was,  at 
the  same  time,  "quite  fortunate  in  her  birth  and  personal  beauty, 
her  children  and  her  husband."  Possessed  of  unusual  literary  attain- 
ments, she  was  a  conversationalist  of  rare  versatility,  wit,  and  charm. 
At  the  time  of  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline,  she  took  advantage  of  the 
absence  of  her  husband  from  the  city**  to  open  her  house  to  the 
intrigues  of  the  conspirators.  It  was  thither  that  P.  Umbrenus 
brought  the  ambassadors  of  the  Allobroges,  unfolded  to  them  the 
details  of  the  plot,  and  secured  their  promise  of  alliance  and 
assistance. 

From  this  narrative  we  can  infer  that  Decimus  Brutus  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline  and,  from  what  we 
know  of  his  previous  history,  we  can  readily  believe  that  such  a 
movement  was  utterly  foreign  to  his  sympathies.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  quite  natural  that  Sempronia,  with  the  democratic  tradi- 
tions of  her  ancestry,  should  have  been  in  sympathy  with  the  radical 
leaders  of  the  day.  There  was  also  a  difference  in  character  as  well 
as  in  the  politics  and  ancestral  traditions  of  the  husband  and  the 
wife.  Sallust,  however,  probably  exaggerated  the  bad  side  of  Sem- 
pronia's  character.  She  was  doubtless  a  brilliant  society  woman — 
reckless  and  daring,  and  much  too  free  in  her  manners  for  the  good 
of  her  reputation.  But  Sallust  wished  to  paint  a  picture  of  the  cor- 
ruption in  Roman  society  of  the  times,  and  so  he  chose  Sempronia  as 
a  type  for  his  rhetorical  characterization.  His  well-known  partiality 
for  Caesar  and  his  consequent  hostility  to  Decimus  Brutus  Albinus, 
the  son  of  Sempronia  and  one  of  the  conspirators  against  the  dictator, 
furnished  him  an  additional  motive  for  blackening  the  character  of 
the  mother.** 

Such  was  the  parentage  and  ancestry  of  Decimus  Junius  Brutus, 

4*  Sdl.  Cat.  40. 
>  >•  Cf.  Schwartz,  "Die  BerickU  Hber  d.  CiMinariscke  Verxhwtntnt,"  Hermes,  XXXII.  p.  S70. 


I 


who  in  our  Greek  sources  *^  has  the  additional  cognomen  of  Albinus. 
This  was  the  cognomen  of  the  gens  Postumia,  and  hence  we  infer 
that  Decimus  was  adopted  into  that  well-known  family.*^  The  cor- 
rectness of  this  inference  is  established  by  coins  of  various  types, 
one  of  which  bears  on  the  obverse  the  legend  A.  POSTVMIVS, 
COS.,^^  with  the  idealized  head  of  the  illustrious  progenitor  of  the 
gens  Postumia,  Aulus  Postumius  Albus  (or  Albinus)  Regillensis, 
who  is  said  to  have  defeated  the  Latins  in  the  battle  of  Lake  Regillus, 
498  or  496  B.  c,  and  to  have  prevented  the  return  of  the  Tarquins 
to  Rome."  On  the  reverse  is  the  inscription  ALBINVS  BRVTI  F. 
within  a  wreath  of  grain.  But  just  which  Postumius  Albinus  it  was 
that  adopted  Decimus  Brutus,  it  is  hard  to  determine.  It  is  some- 
times stated  that  it  was  the  Aulus  Postumius  Albinus*''  who  was 
consul  in  the  year  99. '^^  But  if  we  can  believe  the  testimony  of  Oro- 
sius,'^  this  Postumius  was  put  to  death  by  his  own  soldiers  in  89, 
which  was  four  years  before  the  birth  of  Decimus  Brutus.  In  that 
case  he  certainly  was  not  Decimus'  adoptive  father.  From  the  literary 
sources  we  know  of  only  two  Postumii  with  the  cognomen  Albinus 
who  could  have  adopted  Decimus :  first,  the  Aulus  Postumius  Albinus, 
propraetor,  who  in  1 10  b.  c.  was  left  by  his  brother,  Sp.  Postumius 
Albinus,  in  charge  of  the  army  in  Africa  and  who  suffered  an 
inglorious  defeat  at  the  hands  of  Jugurtha;''®  second,  the  Aulus 
Postumius  Albinus  who  was  appointed  by  Caesar  governor  of  Sicily 
in  the  latter  part  of  49.'*®  Of  these,  the  former  died  probably  soon 
after  Decimus  was  born,  if  not  before,  and  the  latter  was  presumably 
no  older  than  Decimus,  if  as  old.  Hence  who  his  adoptive  father 
was  must  be  left  an  open  question. 

SI  Dk)  zliv.  14.  3;  Plut.  Brut.  la,  Caes.  64,  Ant-  n. 

*■  This  method  of  indicating  adoption,  i.  e.,  adding  the  cognomen  of  the  adoptive  father  to  the  three 
names  of  the  natural  father,  is  exceptional.  But  toward  the  end  of  the  republic  there  was  no  hard  and  fas  t 
nik  for  naming  adopted  persons.    Vide  Ruggiero,  Dizionario  Epigrapkico,  s.  v.  Adoptio. 

u  Eckhel.V.  p.  aap.  Another  type  has  on  the  obverse,  the  head  of  Mars;  reverse,  ALBINVS  BRVTI 
P.  with  two  Gallic  trumpets  crossed  and  two  shields,  one  Gallic,  the  other  Greek,  indicating  that  it  was 
■truck  after  the  capture  of  the  Greek  city  of  Massilia  in  49.  Vide  Head,  Coins  0/  the  Ancients,  p.  118, 
No.  93;  Babelon,  Monnaies  de  la  Rtpublique  romaine.  p.  iii. 

M  liv.  ii.  19,  30,  31;  Dionys.  vi.  a  £F.;  Val.  Max.  i.  8.  i;  Cic.  De  not.  dear.  ii.  6  and  iii.  11  ff. 
»  As  by  Gardthausen,  Augustus,  I.  i,  p.  aa  and  Babelon,  Monnaies  de  la  Rtpublique  romaine,  II, 
p.  III. 

s*  Plin.  N.  H.  viii.  7. 19;  Jul.  Obseq.  106;  Gell.  iv.  6;  Qc.  Post  Red.  ad  Quir.  ix. 

<*  Oros.  T.  18.  aa;  cf.  Lit.  Bpit.  75;  Val.  Max.  ix.  8.  13.  ^ 

I*  SalL  Jugurtha  37,  38- 

w  App.  B.  C.    ii.  48>  <k 


24 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS   ALBINUS 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45   B.  C. 


25 


The  first  historical  notice  we  have  of  Decimus  Brutus  is  in 
Caesar's  account  of  the  war  with  the  Veneti  in  the  De  Bello  Gallico. 
What  his  motives  were  in  accepting  service  under  Caesar  we  can 
only  surmise.*  We  have  seen  that  his  ancestors  on  his  father's  side 
for  three  generations  had  been  prominent  in  the  party  of  the  nobilitas. 
His  father  had  helped  to  put  down  by  force  of  arms  the  revolution  of 
Saturninus  and  had  been  an  outspoken  opponent  of  Lepidus.  But 
his  mother  had  ardently  espoused  the  cause  of  Catiline,  and  it  was 
not  a  far  cry  from  Catiline  to  Caesar.  Sempronia  must  have  been 
well  acquainted  with  the  latter,  the  real  head  of  the  Roman  democ- 
racy, and  must  have  foreseen  the  advantage  of  attaching  her  son's 
fortunes  to  Caesar.  The  young  man  himself,  like  many  young  men 
of  that  day,  was  doubtless  attracted  by  the  force  and  originality  of 
the  great  popular  leader.  The  prospect  of  a  successful  military 
career  in  Gaul  was  alluring.  What  more  natural  than  that  Decimus, 
whose  grandfather  was  the  most  distinguished  soldier  of  his  time, 
should  have  waived  his  political  prejudices  and  should  have  been 
influenced  by  his  mother  to  take  service  under  Caesar  as  the  shortest 
road  to  almost  certain  military  success?  At  any  rate,  Decimus 
went  to  Gaul  with  Caesar,  not  as  a  legatus,  but  as  a  young  man  of 
birth  attached  to  the  staflF  of  the  general*®  and  ready  to  take  any 
military  duty  Caesar  might  assign  him.  And  it  so  happened  that  the 
first  responsibility  placed  upon  him  was  one  of  great  importance. 

It  was  in  the  year  56,  when  Caesar  had  already  been  two  years 
in  Gaul  and  had  had  time  to  make  trial  of  the  mettle  of  young  Deci- 
mus, that  he  placed  him  in  command  of  the  fleet  intended  for  the 
subjugation  of  the  Veneti.  These  people  occupied  the  southern 
portion  of  the  peninsula  of  Brittany  and  were  the  most  powerful 
maritime  state  of  Gaul.**  Possessing  a  large  number  of  ships,  they 
traded  with  the  islanders  across  the  channel,  had  the  best  ports  on 
the  coast,  and  exacted  tribute  from  the  neighboring  tribes  that  used 
them.  Trouble  with  the  Veneti  arose  in  this  way.  Caesar  toward 
the  end  of  57,  thinking  that  all  Gaul  had  been  subdued,  placed  his 
legions  in  winter  quarters  among  the  Camutes,  Andes,  Turones, 
and  other  people  in  the  region  of  the  Loire  valley,  and  set  out  for 
Italy  and  Illyricum.**  In  his  absence,  P.  Crassus,  commanding  the 
seventh  legion  located  among  the  Andes,  dispatched  officers  to  the 
various  states  near  by  for  the  purpose  of  securing  provisions.    The 

••  a.  Caes.  B.  G.    L  39-  a*  **  *•  <»•    in-  7  «•  *•  CatM.  B.  G.  U.  35- 


1 


Veneti  take  the  initiative,  detain  the  men  sent  to  them,  put  them  in 
chains,  and  influence  the  Curiosolites  and  the  Esubii  to  do  the  same. 
By  active  proselyting,  the  Veneti  secured  as  allies  all  the  people 
along;  the  coast  north  of  the  Loire,  including  the  Osismi,  the  Lexovii, 
Namnetes,  Ambiliati,  Morini,  Diablintes,  and  Menapii.  They  also 
summon  aid  from  Britain.  These  tribes  unite  in  sending  an  embassy 
to  P.  Crassus  to  demand  that  he  restore  their  hostages,  if  he  wishes 
to  get  back  the  men  he  has  sent  among  them  for  grain  supplies.  On 
hearing  the  news  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  Veneti  and  their 
allies,  Caesar  orders  ships  of  war  to  be  built  on  the  Loire,  oarsmen 
to  be  provided  from  Narbo,  and  sailors  and  pilots  to  be  collected. 
Returning  to  his  army,  in  the  early  spring,  he  finds  almost  all  the 
Gauls  ready  to  revolt.  In  order  to  prevent  a  general  uprising,  he 
divides  his  army  into  several  detachments  and  sends  legati  into  dif- 
ferent quarters  of  the  country  to  restrain  the  inhabitants  of  the  vari- 
ous sections.  Placing  Decimus  Brutus  in  command  of  the  fleet  and 
the  auxiliary  ships  provided  by  the  Pictones,  Santoni,  and  other 
faithful  tribes,  he  orders  him  to  proceed  as  soon  as  possible  to  the 
seat  of  war  among  the  Veneti.  Caesar  himself  hastens  thither  with 
his  land  forces. 

Decimus  with  the  fleet  was  detained  for  some  time  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Loire,  owing  to  the  storms  together  with  the  difficulty  of 
ocean  navigation  along  a  coast  where  there  were  high  tides  and 
hardly  any  ports.  Such  a  sea  the  Romans  had  never  before 
encountered.  Meanwhile  Caesar  had  made  a  vain  attempt  to  con- 
quer the  Veneti  by  land.  But  he  found  that  he  could  not  subdue 
this  resourceful,  seafaring  people  by  merely  capturing  their  towns 
and  destroying  their  property  on  land;  and  so,  after  having  con- 
sumed most  of  the  summer,  he  determined  to  wait  for  his  fleet.  His 
army  was  encamped  upon  the  heights  of  St.  Gildas  de  Ruis,  while  the 
enemies'  ships  were  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Auray  below, 
when  the  Roman  fleet  finally,  toward  the  end  of  the  summer,  entered 
the  Bay  of  Quiberon.*^  The .  enemies'  ships,  two  hundred  and 
twenty  strong,  on  the  approach  of  the  Romans,  stood  out  to  meet 
them.  They  were  heavy  craft  with  flat  bottoms,  sails  of  skin  or 
leather,  and  lofty  sides.  They  were  so  constructed  that  they  could  be 
easily  moved  from  the  shoals  if  left  there  by  the  ebbing  tide,  could 
withstand  the  high  waves,  and  protect  the  sailors  within  from  the 

*•  For  the  scene  of  the  battle,  cf.  Hohnes'  Conquest  of  Gaul,  pp.  663  ff. 


26 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45  B.  C. 


27 


missiles  of  the  enemy.  The  vessels  of  Decimus  were  much  lighter, 
were  equipped  with  oars  instead  of  sails,  and  excelled  in  swiftness. 
But  they  were  less  suited  to  sustain  the  shock  of  the  waves  and 
rocks,  and  were  unequal  to  the  dangers  of  the  shoals.  Besides,  the 
Roman  ships  could  make  no  impression  with  their  prows  on  the 
stout  sides  of  the  Gallic  vessels,  and  when  turrets  were  run  up  on  the 
decks,  even  these  were  surpassed  in  height  by  the  lofty  poops  of  the 
enemy.  Decimus,  however,  had  contrived  a  device  for  overcoming 
the  disadvantages  under  which  the  Romans  labored.  He  had  caused 
sharp  hooks  or  sickles  like  mural  hooks  to  be  fastened  to  the  ends  of 
long  poles.  With  these  the  Romans,  two  or  more  galleys  acting 
together,  would  seize  the  ropes  that  fastened  the  sailyards  to  the 
masts  of  a  ship  of  the  enemy  and  by  rowing  off  in  haste  would  cut 
them  and  thus  would  succeed  in  dismantling  the  craft.  When  the 
Roman  soldiers  had  thus  disabled,  boarded,  and  captured  one  by  one 
many  of  the  enemies'  ships,  the  rest  turned  and  hastened  to  flee  with 
the  wind.  But  suddenly  a  calm  arose,  the  flight  of  the  barbarians 
was  stayed,  and  the  Romans,  continuing  their  method  of  attack, 
suffered  very  few  of  the  enemies'  vessels  to  escape.**  The 
Veneti  and  their  allies  had  staked  their  fortunes  on  the  issue  of  this 
single  battle.  They  had  engaged  all  their  ships  in  this  one  spot. 
Those  lost,  their  means  of  refuge  were  gone.  So  they  made  a  com- 
plete surrender. 

Such  is,  in  brief,  the  account  •"  that  Caesar  gives  of  this  decisive 
battle  in  which  Decimus  Brutus  played  such  a  prominent  part.    By 

•♦  Melber  ("Dio  Cassius'  Bericht  fiber  die  Seeschlacht  des  D.  Brutus  gegen  die  Veneti,"  Commtnta- 
tiones  Wodfiinianat,  pp.  agi  £F.)  has  shown  that  Cassius  Dio  in  his  description  of  this  battle  perverts  the 
facts,  not  only  in  a  conscious  effort  to  imitate  Thucydides,  but  also  for  rhetorical  effect.  This  investigation 
of  Melber  into  the  trustworthiness  of  Dio's  account  of  battles  has  been  confirmed  by  the  more  comprehen* 
■ive  researches  of  the  Italian  scholar,  Columba  {Cassia  Dione  e  U  guerre  gaUiche,  Napoli,  looa).  The 
points  wherein  Dio's  account  (zzxix.  40-43)  differs  from  that  of  Caesar  on  which  it  is  baaed,  as  noted  for 
the  most  part  by  Melber,  aie  as  fdkrns:  (i)HesUtes  that  Decimus  came  with  swift  galleys  from  the 
Mediterranean  to  aid  Caesar,  (a)  He  rejwesents  Decimus  as  having  cast  anchor  somewhere  on  the  coast 
of  the  Bay  of  Quiberon,  and  the  Veneti  as  sailing  with  the  wind  against  him.  (3)  Brutus  abandons  his  ships 
in  fear  of  the  impetus  and  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  and  receives  their  attack  on  land.  (4)  The  sud- 
den calm  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  the  banle,  wheif  the  enemy  were  advancing  to  the  attack,  and  not 
when  they  were  in  full  retreat.  (5)  The  ships  of  the  Veneti  are  propelled  by  oars.  (6)  The  Roman  ships 
nm  the  ships  of  the  Veneti  with  their  beaks  and  thus  wreck  them.  (7)  One  Roman  ship  attacks  two 
Gallic  ships  at  a  time.  (8)  The  barbarians  have  neither  bows  and  arrow  nor  stones,  whereas  in  Caesar's 
account  they  are  equipped  with  erery  kind  of  weapons.  (9)  The  Romans  set  fire  to  some  of  the  ships  of 
Uie  Veneti. 

•*  Some  things  in  the  narrative  of  Caesar  require  to  be  explained.  Did  Caesar  make  use  of  ships  in 
capturing  the  towns  of  the  Veneti  before  the  arrival  of  Decimus  ?  In  B.  G.  iii  12.  i ,  the  implication  is  that 
he  did.  Again,  is  it  not  likely  that  Caesar  had  in  the  vessels  furnished  by  the  PKioacs,  Santoni,  and  other 
allies,  craft  similar  in  constnictioa  to  those  of  the  enemy  ? 


his  skill  on  that  day  he  earned  Caesar's  lasting  gratitude.  He  had 
fought  the  first  naval  battle  that  is  recorded  to  have  been  fought  on 
the  Atlantic  Ocean;  he  had  prepared  the  way  for  Caesar's  invasion 
of  Britain ;  and  he  had  extended  to  naval  warfare  Caesar's  reputation 
for  success  on  land. 

Whether  Decimus  Brutus  accompanied  Caesar  on  his  two  expedi- 
tions to  Britain  in  55  and  54,  our  sources  do  not  tell  us.  But  it  is 
highly  probable  that  Caesar  did  not  dispense  with  the  services  of  his 
chief  naval  officer  on  these  important  ventures  across  the  channel. 

Decimus  does  not  reappear  in  Caesar's  narrative  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  with  Vercingetorix.*®  Caesar  was  in  the  Cisal- 
pine province  when  he  heard  of  this  uprising  of  the  tribes  in 
central  Gaul — an  uprising  which  was  started  by  the  Camutes  •^  and 
communicated  to  the  Arvemi,  and  of  which  Vercingetorix  of  the 
latter  tribe  assumed  the  leadership.  On  receiving  news  of  it,  Caesar 
hastened  with  the  recruits  he  had  just  levied  to  Narbonese  Gaul. 
His  legions  were  far  away  in  the  North,  two  in  the  country  of  the 
Lingones,  six  at  Agedincum,  and  two  on  the  borders  of  the  Treveri.'* 
The  tribes  between  him  and  them  were  either  in  open  rebellion  or  of 
uncertain  loyalty.  His  problem  was  to  get  to  these  legions.  To 
accomplish  his  object,  he  stationed  troops  along  the  frontier  of  the 
province  and  checked  the  advance  of  Lucterius,  the  ally  of  Vercin- 
getorix, who  was  approaching  Narbo  from  the  country  of  the  Ruteni. 
He  then  proceeded  with  a  part  of  his  forces  from  Narbo,  and  with 
the  reinforcements  which  he  had  brought  from  Italy,  into  the  country 
of  the  Helvii,  whose  territory  adjoined  that  of  the  Arvemi.  Thence, 
in  the  dead  of  winter,  when  the  snow  was  six  feet  deep— for  it  was 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year  52 — he  crossed  the  Cevennes  Mountains 
into  the  plains  of  the  Arvemi.  Decimus  Brutus  accompanied  him. 
Here  Caesar  tarried  two  days,  while  his  cavalry  raided  the  country 
and  spread  terror  in  their  wake,  waiting  until  his  presence  was 
reported  to  Vercingetorix  and  until  that  chieftain  had  begun  to  move 
from  the  country  of  the  Bituriges  to  the  defense  of  that  of  the 
Arverni.  Then,  on  the  pretense  of  collecting  reinforcements  and 
cavalry,  he  set  out  to  join  his  legions,  leaving  Decimus  in  charge 
of  the  troops  and  promising  that  he  would  endeavor  to  return  within 
three  days.  He  urged  Decimus  to  have  the  cavalry  traverse  the 
country  far  and  wide  in  every  direction.'* 


••  B.  a.  vii.  Q, 


*»  W,  C  vii.  2.  3,  4. 


••  B.  G.  vi.  44-  3. 


<^  Caesar,  BSG.  vii.  7 13.  9' 


28 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


We  hear  no  more  of  Decimus  until  the  last  scene  in  the  siege  of 
Alesia.  Holmes '"  thinks  that  he  probably  returned  to  the  province. 
It  seems  to  me  more  likely  that  he  led  the  recruits  under  his  command 
to  Agedincum ;  for  they  were  left  there  to  guard  the  baggage  when 
Labienus  set  out  on  his  campaign  against  the  Parisii  and  the 
Senories."'^  In  the  De  Bello  Gallico  ^^  we  read  that,  when  Labienus 
had  finished  the  business  on  which  he  had  been  sent  to  Lutetia  Pari- 
siorum,  he  returned  to  Agedincum,  where  he  had  left  the  baggage  of 
the  whole  army,  and  two  days  later  proceeded  with  all  his  forces  to 
join  Caesar.  Decimus  Brutus,  if  our  conjecture  above  is  correct, 
accompanied  him.  Caesar  himself  was  probably  at  this  time  in  the 
country  of  the  Senones,  marching  to  meet  Labienus.^' 

Both  Labienus  and  Brutus  ^*  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Alesia. 
When  the  besieged  were  making  the  last  desperate  effort  to  break 
through  Caesar's  works  at  the  foot  of  Montagne  de  Flavigny,  south 
of  the  Oserain,  and  when  they  had  with  a  hail  of  missiles  already 
driven  Caesar's  artillerymen  from  the  towers,  filled  up  his  trenches, 
and  torn  down  the  rampart  with  its  parapet,  Brutus  was  first  sent 
with  cohorts  to  check  them,  then  C.  Fabius  with  other  cohorts,  and 
finally  Caesar  himself  brought  fresh  men  to  aid,  when  the  conflict 
raged  more  violently.  The  enemy  was  repulsed,  and  after  Caesar 
had  relieved  Labienus  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountain  on  which 
the  town  was  situated,  the  victory  was  won  and  the  place  was 
captured.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Brutus  had  a  part  in  the  most 
desperate  fighting  of  the  whole  siege. 

How  he  was  employed  for  the  remainder  of  the  year  52  and  for 
the  following  year  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  It  is  probable 
that  he  remained  in  Gaul  with  Caesar  assisting  him  in  his  further 
work  of  conquest  and  pacification,  and  that,  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  50,  when  Caesar  came  into  Cisalpine  Gaul  to  promote  the 
candidacy  of  M.  Antonius  for  the  augurate,^*  Decimus  accompanied 
him.  Certain  it  is  that  he  was  in  Rome  in  the  late  spring  or  early 
summer  of  50.  For  Caelius,  writing  to  Cicero  near  the  first  of 
May,  announces  the  approaching  marriage  of  Decimus.''*  Paula 
Valeria,  soror  Triari,  divortium  sine  causa,  quo  die  vir  e  provincia 

*•  "  Caesar's  Conquest  of  Gmd,  p.  io6,  n.  i.  >■  B.  G.  Wi.  6a.  lo. 

**  B.  G.  yii.  57.  i,  and  Holmes,  p.  106,  note.  *>  B.  G.  vii.  56.  5. 

*4  B.  G.  Tu.  87. 1.  Caesar  was  on  the  slope  ofiFlavigny  acavding  to  Holmes,  p.  143,  directing  the 
operations  of  his  troops.    Cf.  B.  G.  nL  85.  i. 

»»  B.  G.  viii.  50.  1-4.  »*  Cic.  Fam.  viii.  7.  a. 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45   B.  C. 


29 


venturus  erat,  fecit;  nuptura  est  D.  Bruto.  Of  what  Triarius" 
Paula  Valeria  was  the  sister  we  cannot  with  certainty  determine. 
Nor  do  we  know  from  whom  she  divorced  herself  sine  causa.  That 
she  remained  faithful  to  her  new  husband  to  the  end  of  his  life  we 
infer  from  what  Cicero  says  in  a  letter  to  Decimus  written  toward 
the  end  of  January,  43 :  ^®  Eo  tempore  Polla  tua  misit,  ut  ad  te,  si 
quid  vellem,  darem  littcrarum,  cum,  quid  scriherem,  non  habebam. 

For  the  remainder  of  the  year  50  we  have  no  notice  of  Decimus. 
Whether  he  remained  in  Rome  watching  the  progress  of  the  exciting 
political  events  that  led  up  to  the  Civil  War  or  returned  to  Caesar 
in  Gaul,  our  sources  do  not  say.  Neither  have  we  any  indication 
of  his  whereabouts  during  the  first  months  of  active  military  opera- 
tions. Like  the  majority  of  Caesar's  lieutenants,  he  felt  justified  by 
the  circumstances  in  sharing  the  fortunes  of  his  chief.  When  men 
like  Cicero  hesitated  for  a  long  time  whether  to  take  the  side  of 
Caesar  or  that  of  Pompeius,  certainly  through  no  partiality  to  the 
former,  there  must  have  been  a  large  element  of  justice  in  Caesar's 
contentions  against  Pompeius  and  the  senate.  In  view  of  the 
personal  aspect  of  the  quarrel  and  Decimus'  previous  relations  to 
Caesar,  his  choice  between  the  rival  leaders  seems  perfectly  reason- 
able and  natural.  And  his  decision  in  this  matter  by  no  means  indi- 
cates that  he  had  renounced  the  political  traditions  of  his  ancestors 
and  espoused  democratic  principles,  or  that  he  was  in  favor  of  the 
one-man  rule  which  was  the  unforeseen  result  of  Caesar's  triumph 
over  his  enemies. 

After  the  Pompeians  had  been  driven  out  of  Italy,  and  while 

"  Purser  thinks  that  it  was  P.  Valerius  Triarius,  who  in  54  on  behalf  of  the  Sardinians  accused  M. 
Scaurus  of  repetundae  and  later  was  about  to  accuse  him  of  ambitus.  This  Triarius  was  a  trained  and 
industrious  speaker  and  the  son  of  that  Triarius  (L.  Valerius)  who  in  77,  as  propraetor  in  Sardinia,  bore 
arms  against  Lepidus,  and  afterward,  as  legatus  of  Lucullus.  67  b.  c,  suffered  a  defeat  near  Zela  in  Pontus 
at  the  hands  of  Mithradates — Ascon.  In  Scaur,  p.  17  (ed.  Kiessling);  Att.  iv.  16.  6.;  Ad  Q.  Fr.  iii.  2.  y,  Att. 
iv.  17.  5;  Cic.  De  Imp.  Pomp.  2$;  App.  Mithr.  88,  89,  iia,  120;  Dio  xxxvi.  10-12;  Liv.  EpU.  08;  Plut. 
LucuU.  35.  Others  are  of  the  opinion  that  Paula  was  the  sister  of  C.  Valerius  Triarius,  one  of  the  inter, 
locutors  in  the  De  finibus  of  Cicero,  who  is  highly  commended  by  Cicero  as  a  scholar  and  orator.  He  was  on 
the  side  of  Pompey  in  the  Civil  War  and  in  command  of  the  Asiatic  ships  off  the  coast  of  Dyrrhachium.  He 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  Pharsalus,  and  it  was  on  his  advice  that  Pompey  ordered  his  men  not  to  stir 
from  their  places,  but  to  await  the  attack  of  Caesar.  This  Triarius  died  before  April  46,  and  Cicero  was 
the  guardian  of  his  children — Orelli  Onomasticon  2,  s.  v.  Paula  Valeria;  Cic.  De  fin.  i.  13;  BrtU.  265,  266 
Caes.  B.  C  iii.  5.  3,  iii.  9.  2;  Att.  xii.  28.  3.  Now  it  is  possible  that  the  two  Triarii.  Publius  and  Gaius, 
were  brothers.  But  had  this  been  the  case,  Caelius  would  probably  have  written  soror  Triariorum.  If 
they  were  not  brothers,  of  which  one  Paula  Valeria  was  the  sister  it  is  impossible  from  the  data  at  hand  to 
decide.  Since  Cicero  was  a  friend  of  Gaius  and  was  more  interested  in  him  than  in  Publius.  it  would  seem 
that  Caelius  would  be  more  likely  to  mention  an  occurrence  in  the  family  of  the  former  than  in  that  of  the 
latter. 

»•  Fam.  xi.  8.  I. 


39 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


ships  were  being  gathered  to  pursue  them,  Caesar  determined  to  pro- 
ceed to  Spain  and  detach  the  two  provinces  of  that  peninsula  from 
the  cause  of  PompeiusJ*  Before  his  departure  from  Italy,  having 
summoned  the  senate  for  April  i,®**  he  recounted  to  it  the  wrongs  to 
which  he  had  been  subjected  by  his  enemies,  proposed  that  peace 
commissioners  be  sent  to  Pompeius,®^  and  endeavored  to  secure  con- 
trol of  the  funds  in  the  aerarium  sanctius.  L.  Caecilius  Metellus 
vetoed  the  bill  passed  by  the  senate  intrusting  Caesar  with  these 
funds  and,  effecting  nothing  by  his  veto,  proceeded  to  guard  the 
treasury  doors  in  person.®*  Caesar  threatened  Metellus  with  death, 
and  his  soldiers,  under  his  orders,  broke  open  the  doors  and  carried 
off  all  the  money  of  the  state.*^  By  this  violence,  in  contrast  with 
the  reputation  for  clemency  which  he  had  courted  "  and  up  to  this 
time  deserved,**  he  gave  deep  offense  to  the  people.*'  Although 
justified  by  the  plea  of  military  necessity,  this  action  was  neverthe- 
less significant  of  the  absolutism  that  was  to  follow. 

Caesar  left  Rome  on  April  7.*^  On  his  arrival  in  Further  Gaul, 
he  learned  that  L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus  had  already  set  out  to 
take  possession  of  Massilia  for  Pompeius  with  seven  fast  sailing- 
vessels  which  he  had  secured  from  private  individuals  on  the  island 
of  Igilium  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cosa  on  the  coast  of  Etruria, 
and  which  he  had  manned  with  a  crew  of  his  slaves,  freedmen,  and 
tenants.  He  learned,  too,  that  Pompeius  had  sent  ahead  of  Domitius 
the  legati  of  Massilia  who  were  in  Rome,  with  the  earnest  entreaty 
that  they  would  not  suffer  their  city  to  be  won  over  from  allegiance 
to  him  by  the  kind  offices  of  Caesar.  Accordingly,  the  Massiliots 
had  closed  their  gates  to  Caesar,  had  summoned  the  neighboring 
mountaineers  to  their  assistance,  had  brought  grain  from  the  sur- 
rounding country  into  the  city,  had  begun  the  manufacture  of  arms, 
and  were  already  engaged  in  repairing  their  walls,  gates,  and  fleet.** 
Caesar  had  a  fruitless  interview  with  the  leading  men  of  the  town, 
who  made  professions  of.  neutrality  and  refused  to  give  him  aid  or 
to  admit  him  within  their  walls.  Meantime  Domitius  with  his  ships 
arrived,  was  received  by  them,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  city. 

»•  Caes.  B.  C.  i.  ao.  3o.  •■  Caes.  B.  C.  \.  32. 

**  Att.  iz.  17.  I.  **  Dio  zli.  17.  a;  Fam.  viii.  16.  1. 

*i  Dk}  zli.  17.  a;  App.  B.  C  ii.  41;  Plut.  Pomp.  6a;  Caes.  35;  Att.  z.  4.  8. 

•«  Att.  iz.  -jc.  1. 

•»  Caes.  B.  C.  I.  23;  Dio  xK-  iS-  '»  Caes.  B.  C.  i.  33.  4:  ^«.  «•  i7-  i.  «•  8.  6. 

••  AU,  X.  4.  8.  8.  6.  "  Caes.  B.  C.  i.  34- 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45  B.  C. 


31 


Smarting  under  this  insult,  Caesar  ordered  C.  Trebonius  to  lead  his 
three  legions  against  the  place,**  prepared  the  usual  siege  works,  and, 
in  thirty  days  from  the  time  that  the  timber  was  cut,  built,  equipped, 
and  armed  twelve  galleys  at  Aries.  When  these  had  been  brought 
to  Massilia,  he  placed  them  under  the  command  of  Decimus  Brutus 
as  legatus.^^  The  legions  and  the  siege  from  the  land  side  he  left  in 
the  charge  of  Trebonius. 

After  the  departure  of  Caesar  for  Spain,**  Brutus  must  have 
spent  some  time  in  training  his  pilots  and  oarsmen,  who  had  been 
procured  from  merchant  vessels  and  were  acquainted  neither  with 
the  equipment  of  warships  nor  with  the  art  of  maneuvering  them. 
His  ships  themselves  were  slow  and  unwieldy,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  they  had  been  constructed  of  unseasoned  timber.  But  his 
fighting  force  was  made  up  of  the  bravest  men  in  the  legions, 
centurions  and  antesignani,  who  were  well  provided  with  g^appling- 
hooks,  drags,  javelins,  darts,  and  other  missiles. 

The  Massiliots  had  equipped  seventeen  warships,  eleven  of  which 
were  supplied  with  decks.  To  these  they  added  many  smaller  craft 
in  order  to  frighten  the  Roman  fleet  by  the  mere  force  of  numbers. 
They  put  on  board  numerous  bowmen  and  a  large  force  of  the 
Albici,  a  people  of  the  neighboring  mountains,  whose  courage  they 
stimulated  with  promises  of  reward.  Domitius  manned  some  of 
their  ships  with  the  tenants  and  shepherds  whom  he  hJid  brought 
with  him  from  Italy.  It  was  about  the  27th  of  June**  when,  with 
their  complete  equipment  and  overwhelming  numbers — they  had 
twenty-four  ships  to  Brutus'  twelve — they  proceeded  from  the  harbor 
to  meet  Decimus  who  had  his  station  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  isle 
of  Ratoneau.*^  Becoming  aware  of  their  approach  Decimus  brought 
forth  his  ships  from  their  haven,  and  the  battle  began.  Both  sides 
fought  with  vigor  and  spirit.  The  mountaineers  and  the  shepherds, 
the  former  with  the  promises  of  reward  fresh  in  their  minds,  the 
latter  in  hope  of  freedom,  were  of  great  assistance  to  the  Massiliots 
and  displayed  a  courage  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  Romans.  The 
Massiliots,  by  the  speed  of  their  ships  and  by  their  skill,  not  only 

*•  Hirtius  B.  G.  viii.  54.  4;  d.  B.  C.  i.  36.  4.  90  Li  v.  Epit.  no. 

*■  Dio  (zli.  19.  3,  4)  informs  us  that  Caesar  before  his  departure  sulBFered  a  repulse  from  the  Massili- 
ots. He  had  expected  to  conquer  them  easily,  but  finding  their  opposition  stubborn  he  turned  them  over, 
to  his  legati.    This  account  of  Dio  is  hardly  trustworthy. 

•*  Stoffel,  Histoire  de  Jules  Cisar,  Guerre  Civile,  Livre  i,  pp.  353  ff.,  286,  287. 

•<  Stoffel,  p.  84;  cf.  Rouby,  Siige  de  Marseille  par  Cisar,  p.  93.  For  account  of  the  battle,  vide  Caes. 
B.  C.  i.  56  ff. 


32 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


baffled  the  Romans  and  eluded  their  attacks,  but,  whenever  it  was 
possible,  they  would  surround  single  Roman  ships  with  several  of 
their  own,  or,  sweeping  past  them  would  endeavor  to  break  their 
oars  and  thus  render  them  helpless.  But  when  they  were  at  close 
quarters  with  the  Romans,  the  latter  used  their  grappling-hooks. 
The  men  on  one  Roman  ship  would  grapple  and  hold  two  of  the 
enemy's  ships,  board  them,  and  thus  engage  the  Massiliots  in  hand- 
to-hand  encounters.  In  these  encounters  Brutus'  men  showed  their 
superiority  in  valor.  They  sank  three  of  the  enemy's  ships,  captured 
six,**  and  drove  the  remainder  back  to  the  harbor.**  The  news 
of  Brutus'  victory  reached  Caesar  at  Ilerda,  just  when  he  had  com- 
pleted his  pontoon  bridge  across  the  Sicoris  by  means  of  which  he 
obtained  access  to  the  provisions  which  he  had  so  sorely  needed.  It 
marked  a  turn  in  the  tide  of  his  fortunes,*®  which  for  a  time  had  been 
extremely  desperate.  It  not  only  produced  a  good  impression  on 
Caesar's  own  men,  but,  as  Dio  *'  informs  us,  the  story  of  it,  told  to 
the  Iberians  and  purposely  magnified,  wrought  such  a  change  in 
some  of  them  that  they  immediately  espoused  the  cause  of  Caesar. 

But  the  Massiliots  did  not  despair  at  this  defeat.**  They  brought 
out  old  ships  from  the  dockyards,  refitted,  armed,  and  manned  them 
with  oars,  men,  and  pilots,  of  whom  they  had  many,  and  thus 
brought  their  fleet  up  to  its  former  number  of  vessels.  Not  content 
with  this,  they  added  fishing-smacks  too,  which  they  had  decked  to 
protect  the  oarsmen  from  missiles.  When  their  fleet  was  thus 
repaired  and  strengthened,  they  received  news  of  reinforcements. 
L.  Nasidius,  sent  by  Pompeius  with  a  fleet  of  sixteen  ships,  had 
sailed  through  the  Sicilian  Straits  unnoticed  by  Curio,  whom  Caesar 
had  placed  in  command  of  the  island  of  Sicily.  He  had  picked  up  an 
additional  ship  ^t  Messina  and,  setting  out  with  his  fleet  from  that 
place,  had  sent  a  fast  little  ship  ahead  to  run  the  blockade,  advise 
Domitius  and  the  Massiliots  of  his  approach,  and  urge  them  to 
unite  with  him  for  another  attack  on  the  fleet  of  Brutus.  This  news 
filled  the  Massiliots  with  high  hopes.  They  embarked  upon  their 
ships  with  fresh  courage  and  confidence.  Getting  a  favorable  wind, 
they  set  forth,  probably  before  daylight,  skirted  close  along  the  shore 
between  the  islands  and  the  mainland,  eluded  the  fleet  of  Brutus, 
and  met  Nasidius  at  Tauroentum,  the  rendezvous  appointed.    Brutus 


•*  cf.  B.  c.  a.  5. 1. 

•»  B.  C.  i.  56-58. 


••  B.  C.  i.  50.  I. 

•»  Dio  zli.  ai.  3,  4-   Cf.  Caes.  B.  C.  i.  60. 


••  Cafs.  B.  C.  n.  3  ff 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45   B.  C. 


33 


did  not  see  the  Massiliots'  ships  until  they  were  safely  past  his 
station,  but  he  immediately  followed  them.  The  time  that  had 
elapsed  since  the  first  battle  he  had  employed  in  repairing  the  Mas- 
siliot  ships  which  he  had  captured,  so  that  his  fleet  now  numbered 
eighteen  vessels.  The  combined  force  of  the  enemy  amounted  to 
over  forty  galleys.  In  the  face  of  such  odds,  Brutus  made  a  speech 
of  encouragement  to  his  men,  exhorting  them  to  despise  the  valor 
of  those  whom  they  had  already  conquered.  He  then  proceeded  to 
the  attack.  The  Massiliots  believed  that  on  the  chance  of  that  day 
depended  the  issue  of  all  their  fortunes,  and  at  the  outset  their 
valor  was  all  that  the  situation  which  they  had  made  for  themselves 
demanded.  As  the  fight  progressed,  the  ships  of  Brutus  gradually 
drew  apart  from  each  other  in  order  to  give  room  for  the  skill  of  the 
pilots  and  for  greater  freedom  and  speed  of  movement.  Brutus* 
men  made  much  use  of  their  grappling-hooks,  as  in  the  previous 
engagement,  and  when  they  laid  hold  of  a  ship  of  the  enemy,  they 
boarded  her  and  fought  hand  to  hand  with  her  crew.  At  the  same 
time  they  received  many  wounds  ;  for  a  hail  of  missiles  fell  upon  them 
from  the  smaller  craft  of  the  enemy.  Two  Massiliot  triremes,  recog- 
nizing Brutus'  ship  by  its  colors,  proceeded  toward  it  from  opposite 
directions  to  ram  and  perhaps  sink  it  by  the  double  shock.  But 
Brutus  escaped  by  urging  his  men  to  row  forward  with  their  utmost 
speed,  and  thus  the  two  hostile  ships,  pushed  on  with  violence,  col- 
lided with  one  another.  Both  were  disabled  by  the  collision,  and 
then  the  ships  of  Brutus  attacked  and  sank  them.  The  ships  of  Nasi- 
dius which  were  on  the  left  wing  had  retired  unhurt  before  the  battle 
had  fairly  begun.  Of  the  fleet  of  the  Massiliots,  five  were  sunk,  four 
captured,  and  one  withdrew  from  the  battle  with  those  of  Nasidius. 
The  latter  vessels  made  their  way  to  the  coast  of  Hither  Spain.** 
By  this  victory  ^«»  Brutus  closed  the  sea  to  the  Massiliots  and 
completed  the  investment  of  the  city. 

This  naval  battle  was  fought  about  the  last  of  July."^  But  it 
was  not  until  the  beginning  of  October  that  the  Massiliots  gave  up 
the  defense  of  their  city  by  land.  During  this  time  Brutus  was 
employed  in  maintaining  the  blockade  of  the  port.  A  few  days, 
however,  before  the  town  surrendered,  L.  Domitius,  having  learned 
of  the  decision  of  the  Massiliots  to  give  themselves  up,  resolved  to 
run  the  blockade  and  effect  his   escape.     He  got  together  three 


••  B.  C.  n.  3-7- 


"»•  Stoffel,  p.  90. 


••'  Stoffel,  pp.  253,  254,  287. 


34 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


ships,  two  of  which  he  assigned  to  his  friends,  while  he  himself 
embarked  upon  the  third.  Just  then  a  terrible  storm  came  up,  favor- 
ing the  design,  and  Domitius  and  his  company  started  upon  their 
way.  But  Brutus'  ships,  keeping  daily  watch  near  the  harbor, 
caught  sight  of  them  and  weighed  anchor  to  pursue.  The  ship 
that  carried  Domitius  was  faster  than  its  pursuers  and  with  the  aid 
of  the  tempest  soon  disappeared  from  sight.  The  other  two  were 
frightened  by  the  formidable  array  of  Brutus*  ships  and  hastily 
retreated  to  the  town.*®* 

Brutus  was  probably  present  in  command  of  his  fleet  at  the 
surrender  of  the  city.  Upon  him  devolved  the  duty  of  receiving 
the  ships  which  the  Massiliots  brought  forth  from  their  harbor  and 
their  dockyards.*®'  What  Brutus  did  with  these  ships,  or  what 
became  of  his  own  fleet  after  the  surrender  of  the  city,  no  ancient 
writer  informs  us.  Caesar  tells  us  that  on  his  departure  for  Italy  he 
left  two  legions  as  a  garrison  for  the  city.  Stoffel  thinks  that  these 
two  legions  were  new  recruits,  levied  in  Italy  by  Antonius  in  obe- 
dience to  orders  from  Caesar  and  sent  to  Massilia  to  occupy  the 
town  on  the  departure  of  the  veteran  legions  of  Trebonius,  which 
Caesar  dispatched  to  Italy.*®*  If  this  be  true,  Trebonius  must  have 
accompanied  his  three  legions  into  Italy.  We  know  that  he  was 
praetor  urbanus  for  the  year  48.*®'  Hence  it  is  probable  that  Decimus 
Brutus  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  two  legions  which  Caesar  left 
behind  at  Massilia,  and  that  he  was  given  command  of  the  town 
together  with  the  fleet  in  the  harbor.  For  Caesar,  during  his  eleven 
days'  dictatorship  toward  the  end  of  49,  by  virtue  of  his  extra- 
ordinary powers,  in  providing  governors  for  the  provinces  already 
under  his  control  assigned  Decimus  Brutus  to  Transalpine  Gaul.*** 
Massilia  then  became  a  part  of  Decimus'  province  and  a  base  for 
administering  it,*®^  while  the  two  legions  left  there  constituted  his 
military  force.  This  seems  a  small  force  for  so  extensive  a  province 
and  one  that  had  been  so  recently  subdued;  yet  Caesar  seems  to 
have  summoned  all  the  legions  from  Gaul  to  take  part  in  the  cam- 
paign against  the  Pompeians  in  Spain  and  for  the  difficult  siege  of 
Massilia.*®*    No  successor  to  Brutus  was  appointed  for  47  or  46.*®* 

■^  Cms.  B.  C.  H.  m.  a-4.  '*»  Caet.  B.  C.  iii.  ao.  t. 

«•»  Cms.  B.  C.  u.  aa.  s-  ***  App.  B.  C.  u.  48. 

*•*  Stoifel,  Giierre  CiviU,  pp.  3x6.  Si7-    **'  E-  Herxog.  GaUias  Narbonmsis  kistona,  pp.  loa,  103. 
»^  Hirtius  B.  G.  Tiii.  54.  4.  5\  Ca^  B.  C.  i.  15.  3;   >8-  S;  *5'  >•  36,  4;  37-  «;  3»-  >•   Cf-  StoUd, 
pp.  356  ff.  and  335  &• 

•^  App.  B.  C.  fi.  ixi;  tir.  Efii.  114. 


CAREER  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS  TO  45   B.  C. 


35 


Indeed,  it  is  highly  probable  that  not  until  the  middle  of  45  did 
Caesar  deem  it  expedient  to  relieve  him  of  this  important  and  diffi- 
cult post.**®    The  exceptional  duration  of  his  governorship  is  proof 
of  his  success  as  a  provincial  administrator.    But  of  what  he  did  we 
know  almost  nothing.     Merely  a  single  sentence  from  the  Epitome 
of  Livy  is  the  sum  of  the  literary  evidence  that  we  possess  for  the 
history  of  Gaul  during  this  period;  but  that  brief  statement  is  a 
tribute  to  Brutus'  efficiency.    After  an  account  of  the  events  of  the 
war  in  Africa  we  read :    Brutus  legatus  Caesaris  in  Gallia  Bellovacos 
rebellantes  proelio  vicit.^^"^    The  Bellovaci  had  the  reputation  of  being 
the  bravest  and  most  influential  of  all  the  Belgic  tribes.***     In  57 
they  had  demanded  the  leadership  in  the  war  of  the  Belgae  against 
Caesar.    In  52  they  had  joined  in  the  general  revolt  of  the  Gauls.**« 
They  refused,  however,  to  furnish  their  full  quota  of  troops  for  the 
relief  of  Alesia,  proudly  declaring  that  they  would  wage  war  with 
the  Romans  on  their  own  account  and  would  yield  obedience  to  the 
commands  of  no  one.     However,  because  of  their  guest-friendship 
for  Commius,***  at  his  request,  they  contributed  two  thousand  men 
to  the  general  levy.    In  the  following  year,  51,  they  made  ready  to 
carry  out  their  boast  and,  with  the  assistance  of  several  neighboring 
tribes,  were  preparing  to  attack  the  Suessiones,  dependents  of  the 
Remi  who  were  allies  of  Caesar.     It  required  a  force  of  seven 
legions  for  Caesar  to  subdue  them.    After  a  tedious  campaign,  how- 
ever, he  had  defeated  them  in  a  battle  in  which  their  leader,  Correus, 
was  slain,  and  had  brought  them  to  terms.***    But  their  spirit  was 
unbroken,  and  they  were,  doubtless,  still  pre-eminent  in  military 
strength  among  the  Gauls  and  Belgians,**®  when  in  the  year  46 
they  again  raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  with  the  result  as  recorded 
above.    The  silence  of  subsequent  history  concerning  them  affords 
convincing  testimony  to  the  thoroughness  with  which  they  were 
subjugated  by  Brutus. 

«»  Plut.  i4ii/.  II. 

II        "'™.'''  ^\i'  J*^  ***'  *'*"**°°  °*  **"'  Btnovad,  cf.  Strabo  iv.  3.  5  (p.  194).  iv.  6.  1,  (p.  ao8):  Ptol. 
u.  9.  4:  Plin.  N.  H.  vr.  17.  106. 

"•  Caes.  B.  G.  ii.  4.  5.;  Strabo  iv.  4.  3-  P-  196,  avrir  ti  rmv  B«Ay«r  B«A\o<Licovf  apitrrmK  ♦a«ri. 
"•  ^-  G'  vii-  50.  "s  Hirtius  B.  G.  viu.  6-aa. 

"*  B.  G.  vii.  7S-  5-  «»•  Hirt.  B.  G.  viu.  6.  a. 


II 

DECIMUS'  PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  CAESAR 

Brutus  did  not  remain  in  Gaul  until  the  end  of  the  year  45. 
Caesar  probably  desired  him  to  be  present  in  Rome  on  the  occasion 
of  his  approaching  triumph,  and  he  was  thus  permitted  to  leave  his 
province  in  the  middle  of  the  year,^  before  a  successor  had  been 
appointed.  Accordingly,  he  accompanied  Caesar  on  the  latter's 
leisurely  and  stately  progress  through  the  two  Gauls  and  Italy. 
Plutarch,'*  after  reciting  the  fact  that  all  the  leading  men  of  Rome 
went  out  several  days*  journey  to  meet  Caesar  on  his  return  from 
Spain,  informs  us  that,  on  the  trip  through  Italy,  Antonius  enjoyed 
the  conspicuous  distinction  of  riding  in  the  same  chariot  with  the 
dictator,  and  that  behind  them  rode  Decimus  Brutus  and  Octavius,  the 
son  of  Caesar's  niece,  Attia.  Octavius  had  been  with  Caesar  in 
Spain.^  Decimus  Brutus  had  joined  him  in  Transalpine  Gaul; 
Antonius,*  Marcus  Brutus,*"'  and  other  leading  men  of  Rome  had 
met  him  probably  in  the  Cisalpine  province. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  at  his  Lavican  villa,  before  his  entrance 
into  Rome,  Caesar  made  his  will.®  When  this  was  read  after  Caesar's 
death,  it  was  found  that  Decimus  Brutus  had  been  named  among 
his  substitute  heirs  and,  together  with  others  of  the  liberatores, 
among  the  guardians  (tutores)  of  his  son  if  one  should  subsequently 
be  bom  to  him.^  From  the  narrative  of  Suetonius  we  would  infer 
that  Decimus  was  the  only  one  of  the  conspirators  named  in  secundis 
heredibus.  Dio®  states  that  Decimus,  Antonius,  and  certain  others 
of  the  conspirators  were  made  guardians  of  Octavius,  and  heirs  of 
Caesar's  property  if  Octavius  should  fail  to  take.  It  is  not  likely 
that  Caesar  would  name  a  guardian  for  Octavius  who  had  already 

iNic.  Dam.  Vita  Caesaris  lo;  Lange,  III,  460!.;  Schmidt,  Der  Briffwechsd  des  M.  TuUius 
Cicero,  pp.'  369  f- 

•  Plut.  Ani.  II.  *  Nic.  Dam.  Vita  Caesaris  10.  *  Cic.  PkU.  II.  78. 
«  Att.  xiii.  11.  a,  13.  1,  40.  i;  O.  E.  Schmidt,  M.  Junius  Brutus,  p.  176. 

•  Suet.  lul.  83;  Schmidt,  Briejwechsd,  p.  370;  Lange,  III,  461. 

•  Saet.  ltd.  83. 

•  Dio  xliv.  35.  a :  ort  t6v  rt  'Oktooviov  vibv  irc«-otnT«»  «**  ^ov  'At^iii'toi'  t6v  t€  ^iKifiov  icai  rtvat 
«AAov«  Ttii'  a^yimv  cvtrporovs  t«  avTOv  itai  ii\intoy6fiovi  t^«  ewriat,  iv  y«  ^n  ««  Utlvov  iXtji.  Cf. 
Plut.  Cats.  64;  App.  ii.  143.  «46. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


37 


assumed  the  toga  virilis.     Again,  Dio  would  have  us  believe  that 
Octavius  was  the  sole  heir  to  Caesar  pHmo  loco,  while  Suetonius 
tells  us  specifically  that  the  dictator  appointed  as  his  three  heirs  the 
grandsons  of  his  sisters.  Gains  Octavius  of  three-fourths  of  his  estate, 
and  Lucius  Pinarius  and  Quintus  Pedius  of  the  remaining  fourth! 
In  case  of  the  failure  of  all  three  of  these  to  take,  the  inheritance 
devolved  upon  his  substitute  heirs.*     The  statement  that  Appian 
makes  in  two  passages,**  that  Decimus  was  adopted  by  Caesar,  is  of 
course   false.     In   fact,   Suetonius   gives   us   the  only  trustworthy 
information  that  we  have  for  the  terms  of  Caesar's  will.     Whether 
Decimus  had  any  knowledge  of  the  provisions  of  the  document 
further  than  the  fact  that  he  was  to  be  one  of  the  guardians  of  a 
possible  future  heir,  we  do  not  know.    Certain  it  is  that  the  arrange- 
ment indicates  Caesar's  unlimited  confidence  in  his  former  lieutenant. 
Nor  are  other  marks  of  his  confidence  wanting.     For,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  Decimus  obtained  the  province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  for 
44  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  lex  lulia  de  provinciis,^'- 
we  must  infer  that  he  had  previously  held  the  praetorship,  inasmuch 
as  the  scope  of  that  law  embraced  only  praetorii  and  consulares. 
Therefore,  though  we  have  no  direct  testimony  on  this  point,  Lange 
is  probably  right  in  supposing  that  Decimus  had  been  praetor  in  45." 
He  was  elected  at  the  cotnitia  which  was  held,  after  the  triumph 
of  Caesar  and  before  October  13,^3  f^^  choosing  consuls,  praetors, 
and  quaestors  to  hold  office  during  the  latter  part  of  45.     None  of 
these  magistrates  had  been  chosen  for  that  year,  owing  to  the  absence 
of  Caesar,  who  alone  was  empowered  to  preside  over  the  comitia  for 
their  election."    The  control  of  Caesar  over  elections  was  practically 
absolute,  though  he  claimed  the  right  of  selecting  only  one-half  of  the 
magistrates  other  than  the  consuls."     Hence  it  was  in  conformity 
with  Caesar's  desire  that  Decimus  was  made  praetor  in  order  that  he 
might  become  governor  of  a  province  for  the  following  year.    The 

•  Cf.  Codex  Justinianus  vi.  25.  10;  Roby,  Roman  Private  Law,  I,  p.  203,  n.  a. 
"  App.  B.  C.  ii.  143,  146. 

"  Cic.  PhU.  iii.  38.    The  Uw  was  passed  in  46:  cf.  Dio  xliu.  25.  3;  PhU.  i.  19;  Lange.  IH,  456. 
"  Lanire,  III,  465. 

»»  After  the  triumph  of  Caesar  and  before  that  of  Q.  Fabius  Maximus.  Cf.  Fasti  Capitol.  C.  I.  L. 
I,  Ft.  I,  p.  50. 

«♦  Suet.  lui.  76;  Dio  xlii.  20.  4.  xliu.  48.  i,  47.  i;  Nic.  Dam.  22  and  Krueger,  De  rebus  inde  a  beUo 
Htspan.  etc.,  gestts,  pp.  30,  40.  During  the  absence  of  Caesar  there  had  been  a  provisional  government 
of  eight  prae/ecti  urbis.    Cf.  Lange,  III,  p.  459. 

««  Suet.  lul.  41 ;  Dio  xliii  45.  i ;  Nic.  Dam.  20;  Dio  xlui.  51.  3. 


58 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


distribution  of  provinces  followed  hard  upon  the  election  of  magis- 
trates." The  praetorian  provinces  were  assigned  by  a  decree  of 
Caesar  "  without  the  casting  of  lots,  and  Cisalpine  Gaul,  considered 
the  best  province,  was  given  to  Decimus  Brutus."  At  the  same  time 
that  Hirtius  and  Pansa  were  chosen  consuls  for  the  year  43— that  is, 
toward  the  end  of  February,  44— Decimus  Brutus  and  Lucius 
Munatius  Plancus  were  designated  by  Caesar  as  consuls  for  the 

year  42.** 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  clear  that  Caesar  had  done  much  to 
reward  appropriately  his  able  and  hitherto  loyal  lieutenant.     But  he 
had   bestowed   equal   favors   on   others  who  were   less   deserving. 
Among  the  supposed  friends  of  the  dictator,  Decimus  Brutus  pos- 
sessed unique  claims  upon  his  gratitude.    We  know  but  little  of  his 
life  up  to  this  time,  but  all  that  we  do  know  of  it  is  to  his  credit.    No 
breath  of  scandal  in  public  or  in  private  conduct  attached  itself  to 
his  name.     Marcus  Brutus  with  all  his  virtues  was  a  harsh  and 
sordid  usurer;  Antonius,  notoriously  dishonest  and  corrupt;  Dola- 
bella,  a  licentious  demagc^e.    There  is  nothing  in  the  record  to  indi- 
cate that  Decimus  Brutus  was  actuated  by  selfish  motives.    Ancient 
and  modern  writers  alike  ascribe  such  motives  to  his  colleague, 
Plancus,  to  Lepidus,  and  to  Cassius.     The  support  of  men   like 
Antonius,  Dolabella,  Plancus,  and  Lepidus  gave  no  moral  strength 
to  Caesar's  cause,  whereas  the  loyalty  of  Decimus  Brutus  was  a 
valuable  moral  asset.     Not  only  did  Decimus  contribute  character 
to  the  service  of  Caesar,  he  added  ability  too.    He  was  conspicuous 
among  all  of  Caesar's  lieutenants  for  his  unvarying  success  and 
substantial  achievement.    Lepidus,  it  is  true,  had  obtained  from  the 
dictator  the  honor  of  a  triumph.    But  he  ill  deserved  such  an  honor ; 
a  trial  for  extortion  rather  was  his  due.    Trebonius,  though  an  able 
military  man,  had  been  deserted  by  his  own  troops  and  compelled  to 
flee   from   his   province.     Dolabella   as   tribune   and   Antonius   as 
magister  equitum,  in  47,  had  both  done  much  by  their  dishonest 
measures  to  discredit  and  endanger  the  government  of  Caesar.    Up 
to  this  time,  at  least,  no  failure  or  breach  of  trust  marred  the  career 
of  Decimus  Brutus.    To  his  skill  and  valor  Caesar  was  indebted  for 

**  Krucger,  pp.  30  and  41,  n.  6;  Dio  zliii.  47.  i. 
**  Dio  zliii.  35.  4. 

«•  App.  B.  C.  iii.  2;  Dio  xlv.  0.  3;  Nic.  Dam.  »8. 

«•  VeU.  ii.  60.  5;  App.  iii.  98,  Dio  xiiv.  14. 4;  Cic.  Pam.  ad.  4;  Nic.  Dam.  aa;  Dio.  xliii.  51-  »;  Suet. 
/«{.  80  for  the  comitia. 


DECIMUS*  PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


39 


four  notable  victories,  and  in  a  fifth  engagement  he  had  played  an 
honorable,  though  subordinate,  part 

Modem  writers  are  wont  to  place  undue  emphasis  upon  the 
marks  of  friendship  that  Caesar  bestowed  upon  Decimus,  neglecting 
the  quid  pro  quo  of  service  rendered  by  the  latter.  And  thus  they 
are  enabled  to  paint  in  blacker  hues  the  conduct  of  Brutus  on  the 
Ides  of  March.  For  it  is  the  almost  universal  judgment  of  historians 
that  of  all  those  who  had  a  share  in  that  day's  deed,  Decimus  was  the 
arch-traitor.  Of  the  moderns  only  Gardthausen  *®  and  Seeck  ^^  have 
essayed  to  present  his  conduct  in  a  better,  and,  I  think,  a  truer,  light 

Decimus  had  inherited  from  an  honorable  ancestry  on  his  father's 
side  a  loyal  devotion  to  the  republican  tradition  that  the  senate 
should  have  a  large  share  in  the  government  of  the  state.  He  had 
been  adopted  into  a  family  no  less  faithful  to  conservative  political 
principles.  Although,  as  a  young  man,  he  had  entered  military 
service  under  Caesar,  it  is  by  no  means  a  necessary  inference  that 
he  adopted  the  political  faith  of  which  Caesar  was  the  recognized 
leader.  He  doubtless  regarded  the  Civil  War  as  a  contest  between 
Caesar  and  Pompey,  with  the  balance  of  justice  on  the  side  of  Caesar ; 
and  he  naturally  followed  his  former  leader,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  must  have  cherished,  in  some  degree  at  least,  the  traditions  of 
his  real  and  adoptive  ancestry.^^  But  he  was  primarily  a  soldier, 
not  a  politician,  and  his  political  convictions  had  lost  in  definiteness 
and  intensity  during  a  life  of  engrossing  military  activity  involving 
as  it  did  long  absence  from  Rome,  the  scene  of  party  strife  and 
turmoil. 

In  the  autumn  of  45,  when  Decimus  Brutus  returned  to  Rome, 
he  was  still,  comparatively  speaking,  a  young  man — not  over  forty. 
He  had,  so  far  as  we  know,  not  yet  held  a  city  magistracy  and  was 
without  experience  in  city  politics.  He  probably  entertained  the 
hope  that  Caesar,  now  that  all  his  enemies  had  been  conquered, 
would  restore  the  free  republic  ^^ — ^an  idea  prevalent  at  the  time  and 

**  Gardthausen,  Augustus,  I,  i,  p.  as. 

•*  Seeck  (Kaiser  Augustus,  pp.  17  f.)  thinks  that  Decimus  was  a  democrat,  but  coxild  not  endure  the 
idea  of  Caesar's  being  a  king  and  tyrant.  I  do  not  believe  that  Decimus  was  ever  a  member  of  the  demo- 
cratic party. 

"  Both  Seeck  and  Gardthausen  dte  the  coins  of  Decimus  that  bear  the  image  of  the  victor  of  Lake 
Regillus,  Aulus  Postumius  Albus  (or  Albinus),  the  ancestor  of  the  family  into  which  Brutus  was  adopted, 
to  show  that  Brutus  honored  the  memory  of  the  man  who  prevented  the  return  of  the  Tarquins  to  Rome 
{vide  supra,  p.  33). 

*s  Fam.  ziii.  6S.  a  (of  September,  46). 


40 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


cherished  by  not  a  few  lovers  of  the  old  regime.  But  at  Rome  he 
found,  along  with  this  hopeful  attitude,  a  feeling  of  despair  and 
a  strong  undercurrent  of  opposition  to  Caesar — an  opposition  that 
found  voice  in  the  mutual  intercourse  of  friends,  and  was  sometimes 
even  bold  enough  to  address  the  public  ear.**  Of  this  opposition  we 
have  abundant  evidence  in  Cicero's  letters  of  the  time.  Its  causes 
are  not  far  to  seek.  The  senate  had  become  a  mere  instrument  for 
registering  the  will  of  Caesar ;  the  magistrates  were  puppets  for  the 
execution  of  that  will ;  and  the  popular  assembly,  which  had  long 
ceased  to  be  a  healthy  political  body,  was  now  but  rarely  permitted 
to  elect  magistrates,  and  then  only  to  ratify  the  choice  of  the 
dictator.**  "You  tell  me  of  Catulus  and  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,"  writes  Cicero  in  46;  "what  similarity  is  there  between  those 
times  and  these?  Then  I  did  not  like  to  be  free  from  the  care  of 
public  business  either,  for  any  length  of  time.  For  I  sat  by  the  helm 
(of  the  ship  of  state)  and  held  the  tiller;  while  now  there  is  scarce 
room  for  me  in  the  hold."  *®  "Can  anyone  who  knows  anything 
be  happy  now?"  he  asks  in  an  earlier  letter."  There  is  no  escape 
from  the  tyranny  of  Caesar.-®  Freedom  of  speech  and  action  is 
alike  impossible.  The  result  of  the  Spanish  war  boded  no  good  to 
Rome  in  Cicero's  opinion,  for  it  would  mean  either  massacre  or 
slavery.**  In  May  of  the  next  year,  45,  Cicero  had  written  a  letter 
of  political  counsel  to  Caesar,  a  avfi/SovXevriKoVj  such  as  Aris- 
totle and  Isocrates  had  been  wont  to  write  to  kings  and  princes, 
to  Alexander  in  particular;  but  its  tone  did  not  exactly  suit  the 
friends  of  Caesar.*®  Cicero  gives  the  matter  up.  "For  how  base  is 
flattery,"  he  exclaims,  "when  life  itself  for  me  is  base."'^  Just 
about  the  time  he  had  written  this  letter  to  Caesar,  which  he  did  not 
send,  he  intimated  in  a  letter  to  Atticus  that  he  would  rather  see 
Caesar  dead  and  deified  than  safe  on  earth.**  When  the  ivory 
statue  of  Caesar  was  borne  in  the  procession  of  the  gods  at  the 
ludi  circenses,  it  called  forth  sarcastic  comment  from  Cicero: 
Populum  veto  praeclarum  quod  propter  malum  vicinum  ne  Victoriae 

•«  Cf.  the  book  of  Aulus  Caecina  against  Caesar,  Fam.  vi.  7.  i;  Suet.  /«/.  75;  Fam.  -n.  5. 

•iAU.  xii.  8.  i;  Fam.  v.  13.  3. 

••  Fam.  ix.  15.  3.  »•  Fam.  iv.  14.  1.     Cf.  Fam.  vi.  ai,  i. 

•»  Fam.  vii.  28.  i.  J*  Att.  riii.  26.  a;  xiu.  27.  i,  28.  a. 

••  Fam.  iv.  8.  a.  »«  Att.  nii  a8.  a;  cf.  30.  a. 

•*  Att.  xii.  45.  (3)  2 :  Dt  Caesare  vidno  scripseram  ad  te,  quia'cognoram  ex  tuts  litteris.  Eum  vvvvaov 
Quirim  male  quam  Salutis. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


41 


quid  em  ploditur!^^  In  another  letter,  a  fortnight  later,  Cicero 
makes  it  clear  that  he  is  opposed  to  Caesar,  but  he  adds:  "The 
king  knows  that  I  have  no  spirit  in  me."  From  a  letter  of  Cicero 
written  early  in  August,  45,  we  learn  that  Marcus  Brutus,  after 
having  gone  to  meet  Caesar  on  his  return  from  Gaul,  was  of  the 
opinion  that  he  would  restore  the  republic.  Cicero  is  skeptical  of 
such  news,  his  comment  is  exceedingly  bitter,  and  he  strongly  hints 
that  Marcus  Brutus  should  imitate  the  examples  of  Ahala  and  the 
elder  Brutus.**  It  is  inconceivable  that  Cicero  should  have  been 
the  only  man  in  Rome  or  Italy  who  entertained  such  sentiments  as 
we  find  above.  He  must  have  voiced  a  feeling  common  especially 
among  the  members  of  the  senate — men  of  sensitive  pride  who  had 
been  deprived  of  the  substance  of  their  power  and  now  were 
mocked  by  its  shadow. 

It  was  into  this  atmosphere  of  discontent  and  silent  opposition 
that  Decimus  Brutus  entered  on  his  return  to  Rome.  He  was  soon 
to  realize  the  difference  between  service  under  a  superior  military 
authority  and  the  conduct  of  civil  business  under  the  irresponsible 
and  despotic  will  of  one  man — between  the  freedom  of  the  camp 
and  province  and  the  sickening  subserviency  of  the  city. 

Caesar's  was  a  mild  and  benevolent  tyranny,  they  tell  us,  but,  for 
all  that,  it  was  oppressive  to  men's  spirits.  The  change  from  the  old 
to  the  new  was  too  sudden,  too  radical,  for  those  who  cherished 
republican  principles  to  be  reconciled  to  it.  Nay,  they  recoiled  from 
it,  and  there  was  reaction,  organized  opposition,  and  conspiracy. 
A  brief  review  of  some  of  the  events  that  culminated  in  the  Ides  of 
March  will  help  us  to  understand  the  motives  that  actuated  Decimus 
Brutus  on  that  day. 

The  news  of  Caesar's  victory  at  Munda  had  reached  Rome  on  the 
eve  of  the  20th  of  April.  Soon  thereafter  it  was  decreed  by  the 
senate  that  in  all  the  festal  assemblies  Caesar  should  have  the  right 
of  appearing  in  the  vestis  triumphalis,  of  wearing  always  the  laurel 
wreath  of  the  triumphator ,^^  and  red  shoes  such  as  had  been  worn 
by  the  ancient  Alban  kings  *®  to  whom  he  claimed  kinship  through 
lulus.  The  servile  senate  voted  him  the  title  of  Liberator,  recorded 
it  in  the  Fasti,  and  decreed  a  temple  to  Libertas.^"^  The  praenomen, 
Imperator,  an  appellation  that  victorious  generals   were  wont  to 

S3  AU.  ziii.  44.  I ;  cf.  Suet.  /«/.  76  and  Cic.  Att.  xiii.  a8.3. 

*«  Att.  ziii.  40.  I.  s'  Dio  xliii.  43.  a. 

3s  Dio  xliii.  43.  i;  Suet.  lid.  45.  "  Dio  xliii.  44.  z. 


42 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


receive  on  the  field  of  battle,  was  decreed  to  him  in  perpetuum  and 
also  to  his  children."     They  voted  that  he  should  have  a  domus 
publica  distinguished  by  a  fastigium,  the  usual  ornament  of  temples," 
and  that  movable  festivals  (dies  feriati),  on  the  days  of  the  victories 
of  himself  and  his  legati,  should  be  celebrated  in  his  honor.***    Other 
distinctions  of  this  kind  they  granted  him,  says  Dio,"  by  means  of 
which  they  made  him  a  monarch  without  disguise.    He  was  to  have 
the  right  of  nominating  magistrates— even  those  of  the  plebs—^nd 
to  hold  the  consulship  sine  collega  for  ten  years.     The  decrees  of 
the  senate  granting  the  latter  honors  were  probably  ratified  by  the 
people."    The  people  also  voted  that  Caesar  alone  should  be  empow- 
ered to  have  soldiers  and  to  control  the  public  revenues."     Some- 
what later,  probably  about  the  middle  of  May,  the  senate  decreed 
that  an  ivory  statue  of  him  should  be  borne  upon  the  ferculum  in  the 
pompa  circensis  **  along  with  the  images  of  the  gods.    When  this 
was  actually  done  a  month  later,  the  people  showed  their  indignation 
by  the  silence  which  they  maintained  when  Caesar's  image  was 
borne  past."     Another  statue  the  senate  decreed  to  him,  to  be  set 
up  in  the  Temple  of  Quirinus  and  inscribed  Deo  Invicto,  and  they 
also  placed  one  upon  the  Capitol  with  those  of  the  ancient  kings  of 
Rome."    Caesar  did  not  accept  some  of  these  honors,  we  are  told. 
For  instance,  soon  after  his  entrance  into  the  city,  he  relinquished 
the  consulship  with  a  self-denial,  as  Lange  has  suggested,*^  more 
apparent  than  real,  since  in  the  previous  year  he  had  been  vested  with 
the  dictatorship  for  ten  years."    About  the  /th  of  October  "  Caesar 
celebrated  his  triumph  ex  Hispania^2i  triumph  that  angered  the 
Romans  beyond  anything  else,  says   Plutarch."       For  they  were 
indignant  that  Caesar,  having  destroyed  the  family  of  their  greatest 
man  who  had  been  unfortunate,  should  lead  a  procession  in  cele- 
bration of  the  calamities  of  his  country  and  that  he  should  exult  in 
those  things,  the  one  excuse  for  which,  in  the  eyes  of  gods  and 
men,  was  the  plea  of  necessity.    It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  same 

••  Dk>  xMii.  44.  a-  3;  Suet.  lid.  76. 

39  Dk)  xliii.  44.  6.  *•  Dio.  ^'  '**•'*  ^PP-  "•  *<^- 

*»  Dio  xliii.  45.  i;  Suet.  lul.  76;  App.  ii.  106;  cf.  Nic.  Dam.  20. 

4.  «poxcipiV«yTe,  says  Dio  (xliu.  45-  O-  **  ^^  ^-  "*''  S"«*-  ^"'-  ^''  ^*'  *^-  '*^' 

43  Dio  xliii.  45.  a.  "  ^«-  xiii-  44-  1;   Pro  rtge  Deiot.  33. 

*•  Dio  xliii.  45.  3;  AU.  xii.  45  (3)  »;  Pro  rege  Deiot.,  loc.  cit. 

41  Lange,  III,  pp.  463-63;  Dio  xliii.  46.  a;  App.  B.  C.  ii.  107. 

4«  Dio  xliii.  14.  4.  ♦•  Krueger,  p.  30.  "  Plut.  Cats.  56. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


43 


triumph  that,  when  Caesar  passed  the  seats  of  the  tribunes,  Pontius 
Aquila,  a  member  of  the  college,  did  not  rise  to  do  him  honor. 
Caesar  was  angered  beyond  measure  at  this  show  of  independence 
and  did  not  soon  forget  the  incident."  He  increased  the  member- 
ship of  the  senate  to  nine  hundred,  admitting  many  foreigners  and 
semi-barbarous  Gauls,  and  making  no  discrimination  against  soldiers 
and  sons  of  freedmen."  This  act  called  forth  jests  and  sarcasms 
from  the  people,  expressed  in  placards  and  popular  songs.*^' 

A  golden  statue  of  the  dictator  was  placed  upon  the  Rostra."* 
This  too  aroused  unfavorable  comment,  as  we  gather  from  Cicero's 
speech  in  behalf  of  King  Deiotarus,"  delivered  some  time  in 
November.** 

At  the  time  of  the  Saturnalia,  when  Quintus  Fabius  Maximus, 
Caesar's  three-months'  consul,  was  entering  the  theater  and  the  lictor 
had  given  the  usual  warning  of  his  approach,  from  all  sides  the 
cry  arose :    "He  is  no  consul !"  "     To  show  still  further  his  con- 
tempt for  their  chief  republican  magistracy,  on  the  death  of  Fabius 
on  the  last  day  of  December,  Caesar  had  Caninius  Rebilus  elected 
consul  for  the  remainder  of  the  year — that  is,  for  a  few  hours.    Such 
mockery  of  a  venerable  office  made  Caninius  the  butt  of  Cicero's 
biting  wit,  although  the  incident  saddened  Cicero.     "These  occur- 
rences seem  ridiculous  to  you,"  he  writes  to  Curius,"  "for  you  are 
not  here.    Were  you  to  see  them,  you  could  not  restrain  your  tears." 
Caesar  placed  his  private  slaves  in  charge  of  the  mint  and  the 
public  revenues,  and  he  committed  the  command  of  the  three  legions 
that  he  had  left  at  Alexandria  to  a  favorite,  the  son  of  his  freedman 
Rufinus.     His  lack  of  self-restraint  was  apparent  in  his  utterances 
to  those  about  him:     "The  republic  is  nothing,"  he  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "a  mere  name  without  form  or  substance."    "Sulla  was 
am  ignoramus  to  lay  down  the  dictatorship."     "Men  must  speak 
more  respectfully  to  me  and  must  consider  my  word  as  law."  " 

At  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  (44)  other  honors  were  decreed 
to  Caesar.*®  It  was  made  lawful  for  him  to  appear  anywhere,  even 
in  the  city  itself,  clad  in  the  vestis  triumphalis,  and  to  sit  upon  the 
sella  curulis  on  any  official  occasion,  save  at  the  games,  where  he 

»>  Suet.  Jul.  78.  »♦  Nic.  Dam.  20. 

»»  Suet.  ltd.  76,  80;  Dio.  xliii.  47.  3-  "  Cic.  Pro  Deiot.  34. 

»»  Suet.  lid.  80.  '*  Krueger,  pp.  31,  41,  n.  10. 

»»  Suet.  lid.  80.     For  date  vide  Krueger,  p.  43,  n.  la;  C.  I.  L.,  I»,  p.  a8. 

»•  Fam.  vu.  30.  i.  »•  Suet.  lid.  76,  77-  **  Dio  xHv.  4.  1-3. 


44 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


occupied  a  seat  with  the  tribunes  in  token  of  the  fact  that  he  pos- 
sessed the  tribunicia  potestas.  He  was  also  empowered  to  dedicate  the 
spolia  opima  to  lupiter  Feretrius,  just  as  if  he  had  slain  the  com- 
mander of  the  enemy  with  his  own  hand ;  always  to  have  lictors  with 
laurel-wreathed  fasces;  and  to  enter  the  city  on  horseback  {ovans) 
when  he  returned  from  the  Feriae  Latinae  on  the  Alban  Mount. 

Already  the  title  of  king  was  being  applied  to  Caesar  by  those 
about  him  without  any  marked  disapproval  on  his  part,  though  he 
ostensibly  rejected  the  honor,  when  one  day  his  statue  on  the  rostra 
was  found  crowned  with  a  laurel  wreath.  Two  tribunes,  C.  Epidius 
Marullus  and  L.  Caesetius  Flavus,  caused  the  symbol  of  monarchy  to 
be  lemoved.  At  the  same  time  they  spoke  with  praise  of  Caesar  to  the 
multitude,  said  that  such  flattery  was  contrary  to  his  desires,  and  ac- 
cordingly had  the  offenders  imprisoned.  This  action  of  the  tribunes 
displeased  Caesar  not  a  little,  but  he  took  no  immediate  steps 
against  them.**  Soon  after,  however,  when  on  January  26  Caesar 
was  entering  the  city  in  ovation,  returning  from  the  Alban  Mount, 
some  of  the  people  meeting  the  procession  ventured  to  greet  him 
in  their  acclamations  with  the  title  of  king.  Caesar  deprecated  this 
salutation,  saying :  "I  am  not  king,  but  Caesar."  The  same  tribunes, 
Marullus  and  Caesetius,  caused  the  man  who  had  first  raised  this 
shout  to  be  brought  before  their  tribunal.  Caesar  could  no  longer 
conceal  his  anger  at  the  interference  of  the  tribunes.  He  laid  an 
accusation  against  them  before  the  senate.  Some  of  the  senators 
were  in  favor  of  inflicting  the  death  penalty  on  them,  but  Caesar, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Helvius  Cinna,  thleir  colleague, 
deprived  them  of  their  office  by  a  vote  of  the  assembly,  and,  by 
virtue  of  his  powers  as  censor,  he  removed  them  from  the  senate,'* 
new  tribunes  being  chosen  in  their  stead.  Thus  Caesar  brought 
upon  himself  the  odium  of  really  desiring  the  kingly  title  and  of 
being  a  tyrant.*' 

But  the  senate  with  still  greater  zeal  occupied  itself  with  devis- 
ing new  honors  for  its  lord  and  master.    To  soothe  the  irritation 

••  Dio  xliv.  0;  App.  ii.  108;  Suet.  Inl.  79;  Veil.  ii.  68.  4. 

•»  DioxUv.  10;  App.  u.  108;  Suet.  lul.  70.  80;  VeU.  ii.  68. 4.  5;  Liv.  EpU.  116;  Nic.  Dam.  Vit.  Caes. 
ao.  The  account  of  Dio,  as  Schelle  {Todeskampf  drr  Mmiscken  RepiMik,  pp.  a  ff.)  has  shown,  is  incorrect 
in  stating  that  Caesar,  though  angered,  refrained  from  taking  action  against  the  tribunes  until  they  had 
issued  an  edict  complaining  of  a  lack  of  freedom  in  discharging  the  duties  of  their  magistracy.  For  such 
an  edict  there  would  have  been  no  motive  whatewr  until  Caesar  had  in  some  way  manifested  his  displeasure. 
Schelle  has  also  shown  in  the  same  connection  that  Nicolaus  and  Appian  (ii.  laa,  138)  are  in  error  in  stating 
that  the  tribunes  were  banished.    They  probably  went  into  voluntary  exile. 

•»  App.  ii.  108. 


DECmUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


45 


caused  by  the  tribunes  in  their  zeal  for  the  old  order  of  things,  the 
senate  voted  that  Caesar  be  called  Pater  Patriae,  and  that  this  title 
should  be  indicated  on  coins ;  that  his  birthday  should  be  a  dies 
feriatus;  that  statues  of  him  be  set  up  in  all  the  mu^nicipia  and  m 
all  the  temples  of  Rome,  and  that,  in  addition,  there  should  be  two 
statues  of  him  placed  upon  the  rostra,  one  adorned  with  the  corofui 
civica  and  the  other  with  the  corona  obsidionalis;  that  a  temple  of 
Concord,  on  the  ground  that  the  people  enjoyed  peace  through 
Caesar,  should  be  erected  in  his  honor,  and  that  there  should  be  an 
annual  festival  in  reminder  thereof.^*     Most  of  the  business  trans- 
acted by  the  senate  durii^  the  months  immediately  precedmg  the 
Ides  of  March  consisted  in  heaping  upon  the  dictator  honors  that 
gradually  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  a  god. 

He  was  authorized  to  construct  a  new  curia^''     For  the  cuna 
Hostilia,  rebuilt  both  by  Sulla  and  by  Sulla's  son,  had  been  demol- 
ished  apparently  in  order  that  room  might  be  made  for  the  temple 
of  Felicitas  erected  By  Lepidus,  but  really  that  the  name  of  Sulla 
might  not  be  preserved  on  such  an  important  building,  and  that 
Caesar's  name  might  be  honored  in  its  stead.     By  a  decree  of  the 
senate,  the  month   (Quintilis)   in  which  he  was  bom  was  called 
Julius,  and  one  of  the  tribes  chosen  by  lot  was  likewise  called 
Ittlia.    It  was  voted  that  Caesar  be  the  sole  censor  for  life ;  that  his 
person  should  be  sacrosanct  and  inviolable  everywhere ; ««  and  that 
his  own  son,  if  any  should  be  bom  to  him,  or  his  adopted  son,  should 
be  pontifex  maximus.    Some  time  between  the  en^  of  January  and 
the  15th  of  Febmary,*'  Caesar,  after  resigning  his  ten  years'  dic- 
tatorship, was  made  dictator  perpetuus.    Other  honors  were  decreed 
to  him  as  follows : ««  That  he  should  have  a  golden  throne  {sella 
aurea),  the  vestis  regia,  and  a  bodyguard  of  senators  and  knights; 
that  public  prayers  should  be  annually  offered  in  his  behalf ;  that 
men  should  swear  by  his  ''Fortune ;"  and  that  all  his  acts  should 

have  the  force  of  law. 

But  the  senate's  ingenuity  was  not  yet  exhausted.  It  decreed 
that  to  Caesar,  as  to  a  hero,  ludi  quinquennales  should  be  celebrated ; 
that  at  the  Lupercalia  another  sodalitas  of  Luperci  should  be  added 
to  the  Fabiani  and  the  Quintiliani,  which  should  be  called  Luperci 
luliani;  and  that  in  all  gladiatorial  games  in  Rome  or  elsewhere 

•4  Dio  xliv.  4.  4,  5.  "  Dio  xliv.  s- 

«•  Nic.  Dam.  22;  App.  ii.  106,  etc.    Cf.  Lange.  III.  p.  47©. 

•»  C.  /.  X.,  I«,  38,  40;  PhU.  U.  87.  "  I>io  «l»v.  6. 


46 


DECmUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


DECIMUS*   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


47 


in  Italy  one  day  should  be  consecrated  to  Caesar.  When  he  showed 
his  gratification  at  these  honors,**  the  senate  decreed  him  a  sella 
aurea  in  the  theaters/®  a  crown  of  gold  set  with  jewels  like  those  of 
the  gods/^  and  a  tensa  of  ivory  in  the  processions  of  the  ludi 
circenses. 

We  are  told  that,  owing  to  the  confidence  produced  in  Caesar 
by  these  extraordinary  distinctions,  he  did  not  accept  the  body- 
guard of  senators  and  knights  which  had  been  voted  to  him,  and 
even  diminished  the  Spanish  guard  which  had  hitherto  attended 
him."  On  the  15th  of  February,  the  occasion  of  the  Lupercalia, 
as  on  the  previous  day,  the  auspices  were  taken  and  found  unfavor- 
able.^' Caesar  was  said  to  have  reached  such  a  pitch  of  arrogance  ^* 
that  on  the  announcement  that  the  omens  were  unpropitious  he 
remarked :  "They  will  be  more  propitious  when  I  will  it ;  and  even  if 
a  beast  does  not  have  a  heart,  it  ought  not  to  be  considered  a  sign  of 
coming  evil."  Thus  Suetonius  represents  Caesar  as  showing  a 
haughty  disdain,  not  only  for  the  political  traditions  of  the  Romans, 
but  for  their  religious  rites  as  well.  All  of  our  sources  give  us  some 
account  of  what  happened  on  this  Lupercalia,  In  the  main  features 
of  the  occurrence  they  all  agree.  Caesar  in  royal  robe  sat  upon  the 
rostra  on  his  sella  aurea  and  watched  the  procession  of  the  Luperci 
as  they  entered  the  Forum.  Antonius,  naked  and  anointed  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Luperci,  placed  upon  Caesar's  head  an  ivy- 
wreathed  diadem.  Caesar  cast  it  from  him.  Antonius  placed  it  on 
his  head  again  and  again.  Caesar  refused  to  accept  this  token  of 
kingship  and  sent  it  to  the  Capitol  for  the  statue  of  Jove.  The 
people  applauded  his  apparent  self-denial.  Both  Dio  ^"  and  Cicero  ^* 
inform  us  that  he  had  it  recorded  in  the  Fasti  that  M.  Antonius  at 
the  bidding  of  the  people  had  offered  him  the  royal  power,  and 
that  he  had  refused  to  accept  it.  Why  Caesar  thought  it  worth 
while  to  concoct  the  falsehood  that  Antonius  did  this  populi  iussu, 
it  is  hard  to  see.  "For  this,"  says  Dio,  "he  was  suspected  of  having 
acted  with  premeditation  and  of  having  desired  the  name  of  king, 
but  of  wishing  to  have  it  thrust  upon  him.  And  so  he  was  cordially 
hated."  Schmidt  has  hardly  succeeded  in  showing  that  the  account 
of  Nicolaus  of  Damascus,  who  tells  of  this  incident  in  greater  detail 


••  Dio  xKv.  6.  3. 

**  Cf.  Suet.  /«/.  76,  mggeshtm  in  onkesira. 

»»  Fkw.  ii.  13  (iv.  a),  ©i. 

*■  So  says  Suetonius. 


*i  Cic.  De  divin.  I.  119;  Val.  Max.  viii.  11.  a. 
»«  Suet.  lul.  77. 
"Dio  xliv.  IT.  3. 
»*  Cic.  PhU.  ii.  87. 


than  any  other  author,"  is  the  true  one.^"  It  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  there  were,  as  Nicolaus  asserts,  many  who  really  wished  Caesar 
to  become  king.^*  In  fact,  from  Cicero  and  Plutarch  we  get  a 
contrary  impression.  Cicero  says  that  when  Antonius  showed  the 
diadem  there  was  a  groan  throughout  the  Forum  {getnttus  toto 
foro).  Plutarch  «*  has  it  that  there  was  slight  applause,  which  had 
been  planned  beforehand.  Again,  Nicolaus  fails  to  mention  the 
fact  that  Caesar  had  the  incident  recorded  in  the  Fasti.  He  evi- 
dently considered  this  act  little  creditable  to  the  great  man. 

In  the  consular  elections  which  occurred  soon  after  the  Luperca- 
lia, a  goodly  number  of  votes,  probably  in  consequence  of  what 
was  done  on  that  day,  were  cast  for  the  former  tribunes,  Caesetius 
and  Marullus."  Nicolaus"  tells  us  that  L.  Cornelius  Cinna,  a 
praetor,  with  the  consent  of  Caesar,  had  already  secured  the  passage 
of  a  law  for  the  return  of  these  tribunes  and  for  the  restoration  of 
their  right  to  hold  office.  But,  as  Schelle «»  has  shown,  there  would 
have  been  no  point  in  the  people's  voting  for  these  tribunes  to 
spite  Caesar,  after  such  magnanimity  toward  them  as  Nicolaus 
would  ascribe  to  him. 

Not  long  after  this  election  came  the  climax  in  that  long  and 
wearisome  list  of  distinctions  "  which  were  voted  to  Caesar.  It 
was  enacted  that  he  should  be  called  Divus,  that  a  temple  should  be 
consecrated  to  Caesar  and  his  Clemency,  and  that  Antonius  should 
be  flamen  Caesaris.  And  what,  says  Dio,  especially  showed  the 
purpose  of  the  senators,  at  the  same  time  that  they  voted  these 
things,  they  enacted  that  a  tomb  be  made  for  him  within  the 
Fomerium,  and  that  the  decrees  in  his  honor  be  inscribed  in  gilt 

letters  upon  silver  columns. 

Helvius  Cinna,  a  tribune  of  the  />/^&j,  acknowledged,  we  hope  witfi 
shame,  that  he  had  drafted  a  motion  which  Caesar  had  bidden  him 
to  introduce  in  his  absence,  to  the  effect  that  the  dictator,  in  order 
that  he  might  have  children  of  his  own,  might  lawfully  marry 
whomsoever  he  chose.*''  But  this  motion  was  never  introduced. 
These  extraordinary  distinctions  were  usually  voted  to  Caesar  in 

11  Nic.  Dam.  ai. 

»•  O.  E.  Schmidt,  "Die  letzten Kimpfe  der  Rflmiachen  Republik."  Jahrb.  /.  PhU.,  Supplbd.  13,  PP. 

674  ff.  »  ._. 

T»  Nic.  Dam.  loc.  cit.i  woXXoI?  «'  ^r  ««i  ^ovAom«i'Oi«  ^a<rlX€tt  ainhy  ava^tKoymt  y€ytr9mi, 

••  Plut.  Caes.  61.  •'  Schelle,  pp.  3  f- 

•»  Suet.  Int.  80;  Dio  xliv.  11.  4;  Nic.  Dam.  aa.  •♦  Dio  xUv.  6.  4.  7-  i- 

•.  Nic.  Dam.  a*.  **  Suet.  ltd.  sa;  Dto  xUv.  7.  3- 


48 


DECDiUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


his  absence,  in  order  that  they  might  seem  the  free-will  offerings 
of  the  senators.**  On  one  occasion,  probably  when  the  last  and 
highest  honors  were  bestowed  on  him,  the  senate,  led  by  the  consul 
Antonius  and  the  other  magistrates  and  followed  by  the  people, 
proceeded  in  a  body  to  make  known  to  Caesar  its  extravagant 
decrees.®^  Caesar  at  the  time  was  seated  in  the  pronaos  of  the 
Temple  of  Venus  engaged  in  making  contracts  with  the  architects 
for  his  new  Forum.  When  the  procession  approached,  consisting 
as  it  did  of  the  leading  men  of  Rome,  Caesar  feigned  not  to  notice 
it,  but,  keeping  his  seat,  went  on  with  his  work.  Not  until  one 
of  his  friends  called  his  attention  to  the  presence  of  these  dignitaries 
of  the  state,  did  he  give  them  an  audience ;  and  then  he  showed  his 
contempt  for  the  representatives  of  the  Roman  people  by  refusing 
to  rise  from  his  seat  to  receive  them.  Both  the  senate  and  the 
people  went  away  indignant  at  the  insult.®®  Various  excuses  were 
offered  for  this  show  of  pride  on  the  part  of  Caesar,  but  they  failed 
to  satisfy  then  as  they  do  now.®® 

It  is  worth  while  to  inquire  how  far  the  opposition  to  Caesar 
— for  that  there  was  a  party  of  opposition  to  him  we  have  seen 
reflected  in  the  letters  of  Cicero  and  elsewhere — shared  in  the 
responsibility  for  the  decrees  with  which  the  senate  endeavored  to 
satiate  his  ambition  and  gratify  his  vanity.  If  we  are  to  believe 
Plutarch,®"  Cicero  was  the  author  of  the  first  decrees  conferring 
on  Caesar  distinctions  of  a  human  sort.  Others  in  emulation  caried 
these  to  excess  and  made  Caesar  an  object  of  hatred  even  to  moder- 
ate men.  His  enemies,  says  Plutarch,  are  thought  to  have  had 
no  less  a  share  in  this  than  his  flatterers.  Their  object  was  to  secure 
as  many  pretexts  and  grounds  of  accusation  as  possible  against  him. 
Dio  hints  at  similar  motives  on  the  part  of  his  enemies.*^  And 
Nicolaus®^  is  quite  positive  in  his  statement  that  some  welcomed 
these  extravagant  honors  to  Caesar  and  published  them  abroad  that 
they  might  excite  envy  and  suspicion,  and  that  Caesar,  simple  and 
guileless  (!)  as  he  was,  fell  into  the  trap  which  had  been  set  for 
him.    Antonius,  in  his  letter  to  Hirtius  and  Octavianus,*'  accuses 

•*  Dk)  xliv.  8.  a.  •»  Nic.  Dam.  2a;  Dio  xliv.  8. 

••  Cf.  with  Nicolaus  and  Dio,  Suet.  lui.  78;  Liv.  Epit.  116;  App.  ii.  107. 

**  Plut.  'Cats.  60  and  Dio  xliv.  8.  8.  mention  illness  as  one.  But  Dio  informs  us  that  he  afterward 
walked  home,  thus  invalidating  this  plea.  Again  Plutarch  and  Suetoniiis  {lul.  78)  mention  a  story  to  the 
effect  that  Caesar  was  restrained  by  Cornelius  Balbus  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  rising.  But  JulHen 
(De  Balbo  Maiore,  p.  l»^)  has  vindicated  Balbus  from  the  charge  of  such  ineptitude. 

••  Plut.  Caei    57.  »•  Dio  xliv.  3.  i.  •»  Nic.  Dam.  ao.  •*  PkU.  ziii.  40. 


DECniUS'   PART  IN  THE   ASSASSINATION 


49 


Cicero  of  having  boasted  that  Caesar  had  been  deceived  by  these 
distinctions.     And  Cicero  himself   says   that  the  senators  of  the 
opposition  used  to  be  present  in  the  senate  under  the  tyranny  of 
Caesar.'*    But  there  is  no  evidence  that  those  who  had  a  part  m  put- 
ting Caesar  to  death  were  responsible   for  the   measures   which 
tended  to  make  him  an  object  of  ridicule  and  hatred  to  the  people. 
Indeed,  we  are  told  by  Dio  •'^  that  Cassius  and  some  others  became 
conspicuous  because  they  did  not  vote  for  decrees  to  exalt  Caesar. 
These  "others"  were  in  all  probability  those  who  became  the  asso^ 
ciates  of  Cassius  on  the  Ides  of  March.    The  prime  mover  in  all 
these  measures  was,  at  least  in  the  year  44  b.  c,  when  they  were 
multiplied  to  excess,  the  consul  Antonius,  who  in  the  absence  of 
Caesar  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the  senate.    It  is  expressly  stated 
that   M.   Antonius  proposed  the  law   changing  the   name   of  the 
seventh  month  from  Quintilis  to  lulius  because  it  was  the  time  of 
Caesar's  birth.*'     Again,  it  was  Antonius  who  proposed  that  the 
fifth  day  in  the  ludi  circenses  should  be  consecrated  to  Caesar.'^ 
No  one  of  the  conspirators  is  named  as  the  author  of  any  of  the 
decrees  above  mentioned.     In  the  absence  of  direct  testimony,  and 
in  view  of  the  facts  just  cited,  it  would  seem  that  the  extraordinary 
titles  and  honors  voted  to  Caesar  were  conceived  in  the  brains  of 
corrupt  politicians  like  Antonius  and  Dolabella,  men  who  were 
greater  enemies  of  the  dictator  than  the  conspirators  themselves. 
The  latter  probably  made  no  very  vigorous  protest  against  the  acts 
of  the  senate,  and  that  is  about  all  that  can  be  alleged  against  them. 
We  come  now  to  consider  the  origin  of  the  conspiracy  that 
resulted  in  the  death  of  Caesar.     We  have  seen  that  the  dictator, 
notwithstanding  the  mildness  of  his  rule,  had  on  more  than  one 
occasion  given  deep  offense  to  the  conservative  elements  in  Roman 
society  and  politics.     Indeed,  had  he  made  a  studied  effort  to  do 
so,  he  could  not  have  succeeded  better  in  making  himself  unpopular, 
not  only  with  the  senate,  but  with  many  of  the  people  as  well. 
The  consequence  was  that  a  large  part  of  the  senate— perhaps,  a 
majority   of   that   body— and   a   considerable   element  among  the 
people  came  to  look  upon  Caesar  as  a  tyrant,  an  aspirant  for  the 
title  as  well  as  the  power  of  a  king,  and  an  enemy  to  republican 
institutions.     That  the  senate  viewed  him  with  no  friendly  eye 


•4  Pka.  ziii.  18. 
•'  Dk)  xliv.  8.  I. 


«'  Macrob.  Sat.  i.  la.  34> 
•»  Pha.  ii.  no. 


50 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


we  know  from  their  silent  acquiescence  in  his  death;**  and  the 
comparative  complacence  with  which  the  people  contemplated  that 
tragedy  was  changed  to  anger  only  by  the  sensational  laudatio 
funehris  of  Antonius.  It  would  be  nothing  short  of  folly  to  assume 
that  sixty  or  even  eighty  men  constituted  the  entire  opposition  to 
Caesar.  It  would  be  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  all  those  who 
were  opposed  to  monarchy  were  in  a  state  of  passive  opposition  to 
the  dictator,  and  that  out  of  this  passive  opposition  was  developed 
among  a  few  individuals  an  active  agitation  against  the  would-be 
king  and  tyrant.  This  agitation  took  shape  in  a  definite  plan  of 
action — a  plan  of  action  that  was  suggested,  and  in  a  measure 
justified,  by  historical  precedents. 

Men  naturally  recalled  the  fate  of  those  who  according  to  tradi- 
tion had  aspired  to  kingly  power.  They  remembered  how  Spurius 
Maelius  nearly  four  hundred  years  before,  because  he  was  accused 
of  designing  to  make  himself  king,  had  been  slain  by  Servilius 
Ahala,  the  magister  equitum,  acting  under  the  authority  of  Cincin- 
natus  who  had  been  illegally  appointed  dictator.  Yet  this  "judicial 
murder"  *•  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  people  of  that  time  and  by 
posterity  on  the  plea  of  the  terrible  nature  of  the  accusation.*"* 
Again,  a  mob  of  senators,  knights,  and  plebeians,  led  by  P.  Scipio 
Nasica,  attacked  and  killed  Tiberius  Gracchus  with  three  hundred 
of  his  friends.*®*  This  violence  too  was  approved  at  the  time  and 
afterward  by  a  large  party  in  the  state,  the  senate  legalizing  the 
death  of  Gracchus  by  voting  him  a  public  enemy  (hostis)}'*^  Scipio 
Aemilianus  expressed  the  opinion  of  the  Optimate  party  when 
he  said  that  Tiberius  was  justly  slain,  if  his  intention  had  been 
to  gain  control  of  the  state.**'  The  death  of  Gains  Gracchus  *®* 
and  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  adherents  was  also  compassed 
by  an  illegal  senatus  consultum  tdtirnum,  giving  the  consul  Opimius 
the  imperium  sine  proifocatione}^^  The  acquittal  of  Opimius  when 
he  was  brought  to  trial,  quod  indemnatos  civis  in  carcerem  coniecis- 

••  Cit.  De  divin.  ii.  as.  '«  Mommsen,  History  of  Rome,  I,  p.  378. 

***  Liv.  iv.  13, 14, 15;  cf.  Liv.  iii.  55.  5.  By  the  Valerio-Horatian  law:  Ne  quis  uUum  magistratum 
sine  provocatione  crearet.  Cf.  Festus,  p.  198.  Cicero  mentions  other  precedents  (Phil.  ii.  114):  Sp.  Cos- 
sins,  Sp.  Madius,  M.  ManltHS  propter  suipicionem  regni  appetendi  sunt  necati.     Cf.  ii.  87. 

«•«  Veil.  ii.  3;  Plut.  Ti.  Grauk.  19.  "»  Val.  Max.  iv.  7.  i. 

**3  Cic.  Pro  MUone,  8;  Veil.  ii.  4.  4;  Sail.  lug.  31.  7:  Occiso  Ti.  Gracrko  quern  regnum  parart 
miebant. 

*•*  Orosius  V.  13;  Liv.  Epit.  6i.  *•'  Qc.  Pro  Rob.  perd.  la;   Cat.  iv.  10;  i.  4. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION  51 

set,'''  gave  legal  sanction  to  the  death  of  Gains  Gracchus  and  his 
followers.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  prejudice  caused  by  the  sus- 
picion that  Gains  was  aiming  to  secure  the  regal  power  was  the 
excuse  for  the  failure  to  condemn  those  who  slew  him. 

Saturninus  and  Glaucia  were  the  next  to  suffer  a  violent  death 
for  usurpation.     In  their  case  the  action  of  their  fellow-magistrates 
and  the  nobility  under  the  authority  o'f  the  semtus  consultum  ulti- 
mum  was  justified  only  by  the  precedent  established  in  I2i.*<>^    But 
the  democratic  party  probably  did  not  admit  that  these  men  came 
by  their  deaths  in  a  constitutional  manner.***     Indeed  there  was 
no  strictly  legal  justification  for  any  of  these  acts  of  violence.    The 
only  reasonable  plea  that  the  senatorial  party,  which  was  respon- 
sible for  them,  could  make,  was  that  they  were  done  for  the  security 
of  the  state.*®*    Yet  they  were  not  only  approved  of  in  after-times, 
but  they  were  considered  among  the  glorious  achievements  of  the 
Optimate  party.***    Thus  a  sentiment  grew  up  among  the  members 
of  that  party  that  the  slaying  of  a  dangerous  citizen  was  under 
certain  circumstances  not  only  just,  but  also  necessary  and  highly 
commendable.***     It  was  on  this  principle  that  the  senate,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Cicero,  exceeded  its  constitutional  powers  in  having 
the  adherents  of  Catiline  strangled.    On  this  plea  Cicero  undertook 
to  justify  Milo  for  the  killing  of  Clodius.    The  removal  of  a  political 
opponent,  who  was  suspected  of  aspiring  to  be  a  king,  by  mob 
violence  or  by  judicial  murder  was  a  traditional  policy  of  the  Opti- 
mate party.     Hence  this  method  of  ridding  the  state  of  Caesar 
readily  suggested  itself  to  a  few  leaders  of  that  party;  and,  though 
they  would  have  to  proceed  in  his  case  without  any  pretense  to 
legality,  yet  they  felt  that,  in  view  of  Caesar^s  extravagant  usurpa- 
tions and  his  manifest  desire  of  kingly  power,  their  action  would 
meet  the  hearty  approval,  not  only  of  the  men  of  their  own  time, 
but  of  posterity  as  well. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  judge  the  conduct  of  men  who  lived 
two  thousand  years  ago  by  the  ethical   standards  that  prevail  in 

•••  Liv.  Epit.  61. 

'«»  Willems,  Le  Sinat  de  la  RipMique  romaine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  247  flF. 

"•  For  the  democratic  view  vide  Sail.  lug.  31,  42. 

p,pJ^^;ZZ'';l  •"*=  ""■  *'^""'  ^  ''•^'  '^-  ""■  "•  -•  "'■  ^  °-  ^'  "«•  -• »:  ^' 

"•  Cic.  De  lege  Agr.  ii.  10;   Pro  MUone  83. 
«"  Cauer,  Ciceros  politisches  Denken,  pp.  115  flf. 


52 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


our  time,  just  as  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  expect  their  actions  to 
square  with  the  political  philosophy  that  is  the  product  of  the  last 
twenty  centuries.  We  have  seen  that  a  large  and  respectable 
party  among  the  Romans  looked  upon  assassination  and  mob  vio- 
lence under  certain  circumstances  as  essential  to  the  very  existence 
of  the  state,  and  therefore  highly  commendable.  Hence  it  was  that 
Cicero,  in  a  letter  to  Atticus,  could  suggest  that  Marcus  Brutus 
should  resist  by  violence  the  tyranny  of  Caesar,  and  could  cite  as 
precedents  for  such  an  act  the  example  of  the  elder  Brutus  who 
exiled  the  Tarquins,  and  of  Gains  Servilius  Ahala  who  slew  the 
would-be  king,*"  Spurius  Maelius. 

The  assassination  of  Caesar  was  therefore  planned  as  a  coup 
d'etat  by  the  younger  leaders  of  the  Optimate  party.  There  is 
good  reason  for  believing,  as  I  have  endeavored  to  show,  that 
Decimus  Brutus  was  a  member  of  that  party ;  and  his  distinguished 
military  services  doubtless  gave  him  prominence  in  the  counsels  of 
its  leaders.  Consequently,  the  friendship"*  between  Caesar  and 
Decimus  did  not  deter  Pacuvius  Antistius  Labeo  and  Gains  Cas- 
sius  Longinus  from  sounding  him  on  the  subject  of  the  plot  against 
Caesar.  And  here  it  is  worth  while  to  mention  the  manifestly 
erroneous  impression  conveyed  by  Plutarch  when  he  intimates  that 
Decimus  was  not  an  active  or  courageous  man,  and  that  his  value 
to  the  conspiracy  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  a  troop  of  gladia- 
tors which  he  was  training  for  exhibition,  and  to  the  circumstance 
that  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Caesar.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  this  irrelevant  reflection  upon  the  courage  of  Decimus 
Brutus,  probably  found  by  Plutarch  in  some  highly  prejudiced 
source,  is  shown  to  be  baseless,  not  only  by  the  previous  career  of 
Decimus  but  also  by  his  subsequent  history."*  Plutarch  goes  on 
to  tell  us  that  Decimus  made  no  reply  to  Cassius  and  Labeo,  but 
that,  on  meeting  M.  Brutus  privately  and  learning  that  he  was  the 
leader  in  the  undertaking,  he  readily  agreed  to  co-operate  with 
him.  But  there  must  have  been  other  considerations  besides  the 
influence  of  Marcus  Brutus  that  prompted  Decimus  to  join  the 
conspirators.  We  know  from  Orosius"'  that  the  grandfather  of 
Decimus  Brutus  with  a  large  following  of  men  had  taken  part  in 

«»•  AU.  xiii.  40.  I.  "«  Plut.  BnU.  i  j. 

■«4  Plut.  BrtU.  la.    And  yet  M.  Paulus  accepts  the  sUtement  of  Plutarch  and  seeks  to  justify  it  by 
Sttbaequent  events,  with  how  much  reason  we  shall  see. 
■**  Orosius  T.  la. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


53 


the  riot  which  culminated  in  the  death  of  Marcus  Fulvius  Flaccus 
and  Gaius  Gracchus,  and  that  his  father  had  joined  the  consuls  and 
other  magistrates  in   the  attack  upon   Satuminus  and   Glaucia."« 
Such  appeals  as  were  made  to  the  other  Brutus  on  the  score  of 
the  reputation  of  his  ancestry  "^  must  have  been  no  less  cogent  in 
leading  Decimus  to  take  part  in  putting  Caesar  to  death.     For  he 
probably  had  as  just  a  claim  as  Marcus  to  the  distinction  of  being 
a  descendant  of  the  first  republican  consul,  Lucius   Brutus,  who 
was  instrumental  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins."'    His  immedi- 
ate ancestors  on  his  father's  side  for  three  generations  had  been 
consistently  in  opposition  to  the  alleged  usurpations  of  democratic 
leaders,  and  he  had  been  adopted  into  a  family  which  was  equally 
famous  in  the  struggle  against  the  kings,  and  which  had  furnished 
many  prominent  men  to  the  Optimate  party.    The  writers  of  Roman 
history   whom   Plutarch,   Appian,   and   Cassius   Dio  followed  and 
copied  were  bent  on  heaping  obloquy  upon  Decimus  Brutus  for 
joining  the  conspirators  against  Caesar,  but   they  do  not  assign 
any  motive  whatsoever  for  Decimus'  conduct.     Had  he  been  con- 
trolled  by  selfish   considerations,   we   certainly   should  have   some 
inkling  of  the  fact  from  the  many  sources  that  have  come  down  to 
us.    The  cousin  of  Tiberius  Gracchus  had  led  the  mob  of  gentle- 
men who  put  that  leader   to  death,  and   Scipio  Aemilianus,   his 
brother-in-law    and    friend,  after,    Tiberius    had    been    murdered, 
expressed  a  qualified  approval  of  the  deed."*    The  conduct  of  Deci- 
mus Brutus  in  entering  a  conspiracy  against  his  friend  "<>  Caesar  is 
perhaps  a  little  easier  to  understand  in  the  light  of  these  precedents. 
But  to  undertake  absolutely  to  justify  that  conduct  in  the  light  of 
modern  ethical  conceptions  would  be  futile  and  is  far  from  my  pur- 
pose.    And  so  I  have  attempted  to  present  his  act  in  the  light  in 
which  he  himself  viewed  it,  and  to  show  that  he  is  not  the  arch- 
traitor  he  is  pictured  in  the  pages  of  such  writers  as  Froude. 

Our  sources  all  agree  that  Decimus  Brutus  was  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  conspirators."^    His  name  is  generally  mentioned  after  those 

»»*  Cic.  Pro  Rabir.  p«rd.  at. 

»«»  Plut.  Brut.  0;  App.  ii.  „a;  Dio  xUv.  ,a;  Nic.  Dam.  19:    woAAi  a'  i{^p„y,  ,.i  i,  U  w^,u^ 
Bpovroi,  vwov*.  .i«A,t.  rAr  wpoytf,^,,  ravt  M  'P-mvAov  BtU.!,  rij,  'P^mv  ««r.AcAw«<r«r  «,a 

•••  Nicolaus  (19)  states  expressly  that  this  was  the  motive  influencing  both  the  BnOi. 

"•  VeU.  u.  3.  I,  4.  4;  Cic.  De  amicU.  loi. 

«••  VeU.  U.  64.  a  says  that  Decimus  was  primus  omnium  amieorum. 

Nk.  dL^/"'*  ^''  ^^'  "■  **•  '•  "'•  ^^^'  ^'  ^'  ^  '"*•  ^^  '"^-  '*•  3'  ""*•  ^*^'-  <**•  ^^'  "•. 


54 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


of  Brutus  and  Cassius.  But  Nicolaus  Damascenus,  who,  living  as 
he  did  nearer  in  time  to  the  death  of  Caesar  than  any  other  of  our 
extant  sources,  probably  had  a  truer  conception  of  the  importance 
of  Decimus  Brutus,  places  his  name  first,  not  because  the  idea  of 
the  conspiracy  originated  with  him,  but  because  he  was  the  most 
considerable  figure  in  it. 

The  death  of  Caesar  was  decided  on  some  time  before  it  was 
effected."*  There  was  some  debate  among  the  conspirators  as  to 
the  proper  time  and  place.  They  deliberated  whether  to  slay  him 
while  he  was  holding  the  centuriate  comitia  in  the  Campus  Martius 
for  the  election  of  magistrates,  or  as  he  was  walking  along  the 
via  sacra,  which  it  was  his  frequent  custom  to  do,  or  at  the 
entrance  of  the  theater  at  the  time  of  some  gladiatorial  exhibition."' 
The  activity  at  Rome  in  preparation  for  Caesar's  Parthian  expe- 
dition and  the  popular  interest  aroused  by  that  undertaking  were 
peculiarly  favorable  to  the  conspirators  for  perfecting  their  plans. 
A  meeting  of  the  senate  on  the  Ides  of  March,  four  days  before 
Caesar's  intended  departure  from  Rome,  was  announced  to  take 
place  in  the  curia  of  Pompey."*  There  was  a  rumor  current  that 
at  this  meeting  Lucius  Cotta,  one  of  the  quindecemviri,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  prophecy  contained  in  the  Sibylline  books  to  the  effect 
that  the  Parthians  could  be  conquered  only  by  a  king,  was  going  to 
propose  that  Caesar  be  made  king  of  the  Roman  dominions  outside 
of  Italy."''  So  the  conspirators  were  not  slow  to  decide  on  this  as 
an  auspicious  place  and  occasion  for  their  deed.  The  approaching 
departure  of  Caesar  to  the  East  and  the  probability  that  he  would 
return  thence  with  new  conquests  to  his  credit,  thereby  rendering 
his  kingly  ambitions  more  tolerable  to  the  people,  made  the  con- 
spirators anxious  to  accomplish  their  plan  as  soon  as  possible. 
Another  consideration  that  influenced  them  to  select  the  time  and 
place  they  did,  was  the  fact  that  the  gladiators  of  Decimus  Brutus 
were  to  give  an  exhibition  on  the  Ides  in  the  theater  that  adjoined 
the  curia.^^* 

***  Krueger  (p.  33  and  note),  following  the  order  of  events  in  Nic.  Dam.,  thinks  the  conspiracy 
was  started  about  the  middle  of  January.  But  Trebonius  had  proposed  the  assassination  of  Caesar  to 
Antonius  in  the  i»evious  year  at  Narbo  (vide  Plut.  Ant.  13  and  Cic.  Phil.  ii.  34,  75).  This  was  probably 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year  45,  when  Antonius  was  ostensibly  on  his  way  to  join  Caesar  in  Spain  to  take 
part  in  the  campaign  against  the  sons  of  Pompey,  and  not  when  Antonius  went  to  meet  Caesar  on  the 
laUer's  return  from  Spain  as  Drumann  (Groebe)  following  Plutarch  would  have  u.s  believe  (Drumann, 
CeschichU  Rams,  I,  p.  55). 

«M  Suet.  Jul.  80;  Nic.  Dam.  23.  »MSuct.  lul.  80;  App.  ii.  110,  iii. 

»»»Suet.  Jul.  70;  App.  ii.  110;  Cic.  De  divin.  ii.  110;  Plut.  Caes.  60.  •»•  Dio  xliv.  16.  a. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE   ASSASSINATION 


55 


On  the  evening  of  March  14  there  was  a  state  dinner  at  the 
house  of  Lepidus,  Caesar's  magister  equitum,  to  which,  according  to 
Appian,  Caesar  had  invited  Decimus  Brutus."^  Paulus "«  has 
made  use  of  this  incident  to  show  that  Decimus  was  at  this  time 
living  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Caesar,  while  at  the  same  time  he 
was  a  participant  in  the  counsels  of  the  conspirators.  But  this  was 
a  state  dinner  in  honor  of  Caesar,  and  it  is  probable  that  many 
others  of  the  tyrannoctoni  besides  Decimus  Brutus  were  present."* 
At  any  rate,  Decimus  could  not  very  well  have  absented  himself 
since  the  dictator  had  bidden  him. 

At  dawn  on  the  following  day  the  senate  assembled  and  sent 
word  to  Caesar  that  it  was  ready  for  business.^^®  Caesar  had  spent 
a  bad  night  and  was  unwell.  The  omens  and  auspices  were  unfavor- 
able. His  friends,  his  physicians,  and  his  wife  Calpumia  entreated 
him  not  to  go  out  that  day,  but  to  adjourn  the  sitting  of  the 
senate."^  So  Caesar  was  detained.  To  the  dismay  of  the  conspira- 
tors the  rumor  came  that  he  would  remain  at  home  that  day."^ 
The  conspirators  delegated  Decimus  Brutus,  in  view  of  Caesar's 
friendship  for  him,  to  go  and  use  his  good  offices  to  induce  the 
dictator  to  come  to  the  senate  house."^  Caesar  had  already  made  up 
his  mind  to  send  Antonius  to  dismiss  the  senate."*  Decimus  urged 
him  not  to  heed  the  dreams  of  a  woman  and  the  prophecies  of 
foolish  men  and  by  remaining  at  home  insult  the  senate,^"  a  full 
meeting  of  which  had  assembled  at  his  bidding  and  had  long  been 
awaiting  his  coming."®  Decimus  is  also  said  by  Plutarch"^  to 
have  assured  him  that  the  senate  was  ready  unanimously  to  vote 
that  he  be  proclaimed  king  of  the  provinces  outside  of  Italy,  and 
that  he  might  wear  a  diadem  elsewhere  than  in  Italy.^^*  Plutarch 
represents  Decimus  as  appealing  also  to  Caesar's  dislike  of  criticism 
by  suggesting  that,  if  he  dismissed  the  senate  then  and  bade  it 
assemble  again  when  Calpurnia  should  have  better  dreams,  even 

"»  App.  ii.  lis;  Suet.  lid.  87;  Plut.  Caes.  63. 

»»»  Paulus,  De  Decimo,  etc.,  p.  8,  n.  a. 

"«  For  an  entertaining  account  of  this  dinner,  vide  Willcnbflcher,  Caesar's  Ermvrdung,  pp.  41  flF. 

>30  Dio  xliv.    16.    2. 

»i'  Nic.  Dam.  23;  Dio.  xliv.  17;  Plut.  Caes.  63.  u»  Dio  xliv.  18.  1. 

»"  Dio  xliv.  18.  i;  Nic.  Dam.  23;  App.  B.  C.  ii,  115;  Suet.  ltd.  81;  Plut.  Caes.  64. 

»»«  Plut.  Caes.  63.  'ss  Nic.  Dam.  23.  '36  Suet.  lul.  81.  »s»  Plut.  Caes.  64. 

•*•  Willenbiicher  (p.  53,  n.  2),  a&suming  the  correctness  of  Plutarch's  narrative,  thinks  that  Caesar 
did  not  wish  to  let  the  opportunity  slip  of  officially  declining  the  crown  before  the  senate  also.  Strange  in 
ao  strong  a  character  as  Caesar's,  this  desire  to  parade  a  [u^tended  virtue! 


S6 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


his  friends  could  not  defend  him  against  the  imputation  of  tyranny. 
By  such  arguments,  if  we  are  to  believe  Plutarch,  Decimus  Brutus 
led  Caesar  to  his  death.  It  was  already  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
morning  when  Caesar  in  his  litter,  attended  by  Decimus  Brutus, 
Antonius,  and  a  throng  of  people,  set  out  for  the  senate  house."^ 
On  his  arrival  there  the  usual  sacrifices,  preliminary  to  his  entering 
the  chamber,  were  made,  but  the  omens  were  unfavorable.  Many 
victims  were  slain  at  Caesar's  bidding,  yet  no  propitious  sign  could 
be  obtained."^'  The  dictator,  owing  to  the  entreaties  of  some  of  his 
friends,  was  again  on  the  point  of  ordering  the  sitting  of  the  senate 
adjourned  to  another  day,  when  Decimus  Brutus  a  second  time  inter- 
vened, urging  him  to  disregard  the  warnings  of  the  priests  and  not 
to  postpone  those  acts  which  concerned  him  and  his  power,  but  to 
consider  his  own  valor  an  augury  of  good.^"  Thus  prevailing  on 
him,  Decimus,  according  to  Nicolaus,  led  him  by  the  hand  into  the 

Decimus  Brutus  seems  to  have  had  no  part  in  the  actual  slaying 
of  Caesar.  The  testimony  of  Nicolaus  **•  is  as  follows :  "Decimus 
Brutus  pierces  him  under  the  ribs.  Cassius  Longinus,  hastening  to 
give  him  another  blow,  misses  his  aim,  and  strikes  the  hand  of 
Marcus  Brutus."  Paulus  has  shown  that,  by  an  error  of  Nicolaus 
or  by  a  slip  of  the  copyist,  A&cno^  was  written  here  for  Map/eo9. 
For  the  person  who  pierced  Caesar  under  the  ribs  and  he  whose 
hand  was  struck  were  the  same,  as  the  context  shows.  Again 
Appian  says  explicitly :  "Brutus  smote  him  in  the  thigh."  "*  That 
he  meant  Marcus  Brutus  is  shown  by  another  passage  in  which  he 
says:  "Cassius  and  Brutus  [Marcus,  from  the  context]  at  the  same 
time  inflicted  wounds  upon  him.""*  Similar  is  the  testimony  of 
Plutarch,  who  says :  "Brutus  [i.  e.,  Marcus]  inflicted  a  wound  upon 
him  in  the  groin."  "•    Since  in  no  other  source  do  we  find  mention 

'—  Suet.  lid.  8i;  Plut.  Cats.  63. 64- 

«««Suet.  lid.  8i;  App.  u.  116;  Nic.  Dam.  34;  Plut.  Brut.  16. 

M.  Nic.  D«m..  he.  cU.;  Appian  (loe.  at.)  has  a  aunilar  account  of  Ca«ar's  lie«tatk»,  but  docs  not 
Bcntion  D.  Brutus.   Cf.  Plut.  Brut.  16. 

»♦•  This  meeting-pUu»  of  the  senate,  the  curia  Pomfeia,  was  an  exedra  of  the  Portieus  P»mpeia  which 
was  connected  with  the  sceua  of  the  theater  of  Pompeius.  This  group  of  buildings  was  erected  by  Pom- 
peius  in  the  year  55.    Cf.  Richter,  TofograpkU  von  Rom,  pp.  as?  ff- 

i4J  Nic.  Dam.  34:  m*«/A»'  «i  Ki<riri<K  viro*#A«  »«  rh  wp6«rmww  tyiaprtar  avrtp  wXifjnir  iiUtn  • 
AiK^Mt  M  BpovTOf  inth  rmlt  A«yo»t  «4«m»«<h«  »«"•  K*»»mk  W  AoyylvM  tripai-  imtKiowt,  «Xjnr^r 
#»««<Mr,  TO»  itiw  4M«^^yti,  rrrx**^*  «  tv  M«p«ov  Bpoi^«v  x«^. 

*4«App.  ii.  117:  Bp«»Tot  *«  T*r  iiTipkr  (««Ai|^«). 

M»  App.  ii.  laa.  •**  Phit.  Cats.  66. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE   ASSASSINATION 


57 


of  Decimus,  it  is  safe  to  conclude  with  Paulus  that  he  was  not  in 
the  senate  house  at  the  time,  but  that,  after  going  in  with  Caesar, 
he  had  retired  to  his  gladiators  whom  he  had  ordered  to  be  in  arms 
in  a  covered  walk"^  of  the  portico  somewhere  between  the  curia 
and  the  theater  of  Pompeius.  They  were  there  ostensibly  to  seize 
a  gladiator,  who  was  expected  to  enter  the  theater  at  that  time  with 
another  troop,  but  who  had  previously  hired  himself  to  Decimus. 
Decimus  also  pretended  that  he  was  going  to  give  games  in 
a  contest  with  a  man  who  was  then  giving  an  exhibition.  But  in 
reality  his  gladiators  were  there  in  order  to  be  able  to  render 
immediate  aid  in  case  the  liberatores  should  meet  with  any  opposi- 
tion from  the  senators  or  others  in  their  attack  upon  Caesar.**' 
When  the  deed  had  been  done,  the  gladiators  under  the  command  of 
Decimus  hurried  to  the  curia.^*^  But  they  were  not  needed  there. 
For  in  that  full  meeting  of  the  senate,  made  up  in  large  part  of 
those  who  were  members  by  Caesar's  favor,  no  one  raised  a  hand 
in  defense  of  the  struggling  victim  or  dared  to  utter  a  word  in 
protest  against  his  assassination.  One  would  think  that  there  would 
have  been  at  least  one  man  in  that  large  company  ready  to  die  with 
his  master.  But  amazement  and  horror  held  them  motionless.*'* 
Manifestations  of  loyalty  there  were  none,  except  in  the  persons  of 
Gaius  Calvisius  Sabinus  and  Lucius  Marcius  Censorinus,"*  who 
probably  after  Caesar  had  been  slain  made  a  show  of  fight  and 
resistance,  but  only  for  a  moment.  When  M.  Brutus  turned  to 
address  the  senate,  and,  raising  aloft  his  dagger,  called  Cicero  by 
name  and  congratulated  him  on  the  recovery  of  liberty,  the  members 
would  not  stay  to  hear,  but  fled  precipitately  and  by  their  flight  filled 
the  people  with  confusion  and  alarm.*"  For  there  was  a  multi- 
tude outside  the  curia,  a  crowd  of  citizens  and  strangers,  freedmen 
and  slaves,  who  but  a  little  while  before  had  followed  in  the  train  of 
Caesar."*    These,  also  stricken  with  fear,  fled  in  tumult  and  con- 

M»  Nic.  Dam.  26;  Dio  xUv.  16.  a.  148  Nic.  Dam.  a6. 

•**App.  iL  118:  ««  TOW  icarpov  6i4»tov  it  tA  tov  fiovXtvnipiov  wapm^ptLyiimra.  Appian 
probably  is  incorrect  in  saying  that  the  gladiators  ran  from  the  theater.  The  account  of  Nicolaus  is 
more  detailed  (cf .  Nic.  25)  and  probably  more  accurate.  He  tells  us  that  some  of  the  people  in  the  theater 
thought  that  the  gladiators  had  done  the  deed.  Therefore  the  gladiators  could  not  have  been  in  the  theater 
at  the  time.  But  it  is  not  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  Nicolaus'  account  is  at  least  consistent  and  is 
•upported  by  that  of  Dio  zliv.  16.  a. 

«»•  Plut.  Caes.  66,  67;  Qc.  De  divin.  ii.  33.  «s«  Nic.  Dam.  a6. 

«»•  Plut.  Caes.  67;  Brut.  18:  Dio.  xUv.  ao.  i,  4;  Suet.  /«/.  8a;  App.  u.  118;  Cic.  PhU.  iL  a8. 

'MApp.  ii.  X18. 


58 


DECmUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


I' 


fusion.  The  people  rushed  out  of  the  theater,  not  understanding 
what  had  happened,  and,  alarmed  by  the  cries  that  seemed  to 
come  from  every  quarter,**^*  ran  to  their  houses  and  shops  and 
locked  themselves  in."*  Among  those  that  fled  was  Antonius,  who, 
while  the  deed  was  being  done,  had  been  detained  at  the  door  of 
the  senate  house  by  Trebonius,"«  and  who,  in  the  general  confusion 
that  followed,  escaped  unnoticed  to  his  own  house."^ 

The  indifference  of  the  senators  and  even  of  the  people  affords 
conclusive  proof  of  Cicero's  words :"«  Omnes  ergo  in  culpa, 
Etenim  omnes  honi,  quantum  in  ipsis  fuit,  Caesarem  occiderunt: 
aliis  consilium,  aliis  animus,  aliis  occasio  defuit;  voluntas  nemtnu 
The  guilt  of  Caesar's  assassination  must  not  be  borne  by  Decimus 
and  his  coadjutors  alone.  A  great  part  of  the  state,  and  the  better 
part  too,  shared  in  his  crime,  if  crime  it  was.  The  fact  that  the 
liheratores  met  their  deaths  within  three  years,"*  and  that  they 
failed  utterly  in  their  undertaking  except  that  they  made  Augustus 
and  Tiberius  more  cautious  and  more  moderate  than  Caesar,  does 
not  prove  that  they  were  actuated  by  base  motives. 

When  everybody  else  had  fled,  the  conspirators,  with  their 
togas  wrapped  about  their  left  arms  as  shields  and  with  their  bloody 
daggers  in  their  hands,  left  the  senate  house,  attended  by  the  gladia- 
tors of  Decimus  Brutus,  marched  in  a  body  to  the  Forum,  and  thence 
to  the  Capitol."**  One  of  them  carried  a  cap  on  a  spear  as  an 
emblem  of  liberty.    As  they  went  they  sought  to  allay  the  fears  of 

»S4  App.  ii.  ii8;  Nic.  Dam.  as;  IWo  xKv.  20.  1,  a. 

iss  App.  loc  cit.;  Dio  xliv.  ao.  3;  Nic.  Dam.  26;  Plut.  Caes.  67. 

«s6i>io  xliv.  19.  3;  Plut.  Brui.  n\  App.  ii.  117;  Cic.  PkU.  ii.  34. 

.s»  Cic.  PhU.  ii.  34;  App.  u.  118;  Dio  xUv.  aa.  a;  Plut.  Ant.  14.  Brut.  18.  Caes.  67.  Appian's  rtate. 
ment  that  some  of  the  senators  were  wounded  in  the  tumult  and  othe,^  killed  and  that  '"-"'r  at.«^  and 
strangers  were  also  murdered,  is  undoubtedly  false.  For  (x)  it  was  the  express  purpose  of  the  l^^ator^ 
Z^y  no  one  but  Caesar;  cf.  Nic.  Dam.  as;  (a)  there  would  be  no  r^^n  for  kUhng  P^P'*  -»:^^ J!;^ 
fleeing  from  them;  (3)  no  other  source  gives  any  such  information;  mdeed,  Dio  (xhv.  ao.  4.  "•  2)  states 
expressly  that  no  one  was  murdered  or  even  harmed.     Cf .  Plut.  Brut.  18. 

«s»  Cic.  PhU.  ii.  ao;  Boissier,  Cicero  and  His  Friends,  p.  301.  '»•  Suet.  Jul  So- 

.-  NicAaus  (C.  as)  says:  if«tf-vT«  «i,  roivr.vtf.v  oi  a^ay.U  .>«nrov  Wovt«  «ci  ri,,  ayopa, 
.«  Tb  K.wcr«A.oK.  But  the  testimony  of  Plutarch  {Caes.  67)  contradicts  Nicolaus  statement  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  proceeded:  oi  «i  w.pl  BpoiJro.  ....  ix«Povv  «**  rb  K.w.t-Aco.  o«  ♦.v^ovcrtv 
ZlZ..r.K.  Pluta^Tevidence  on  this  point  is  borne  out  by  the  account  of  Dto/x^- -.  2^). 
Nor  does  Appian  (ii.  no)  give  one  the  impression  that  the  conspirators  "fled  ma  run.  Of  course, 
t^y  w^  undTr  the  strait  of  suppressed  excitement.  But  their  object  was  to  allay  the  fears  of  the  people^ 
l7u  conceivable  that  they  would  run  as  if  in  flight  when  they  affected  above  everythmg  else  a  show  o^ 
^^nce  (M<iAa  *««ol  «<u  OoppoA^ot.  says  Plutarch>-*speciaUy  when  there  was  no  immediate 
^  to  run  from  ?  Again.  NicoUus  gives  contradictory  evidence.  He  states  that,  owing  to  their  igno- 
r^^afThat  had  hap^ned.  there  was  a  tumult  among  the  people  until  they  saw  the  m^erers  and 
UipKOv  BpoOrov  navo^o.  to.,  •opw^o.' ««  oW.vbi  kokov  ytycdTO*.     Cf .  Plut.  Brut.- 1». 


decimus'   part  in  the  ASSASSINATION 


59 


the  people,  proclaimed  that  they  had  slain  a  king  and  tyrant,  and 
called  the  people  to  their  ancestral  liberty.  They  halted  in  the 
Forum,"*  and,  to  a  crowd  that  had  gathered  about  them  there, 
they  spoke  against  Caesar  and  in  behalf  of  popular  rule,  saying  that 
they  had  not  slain  him  from  selfish  motives,  but  in  order  that  the 
people  might  be  free  and  self-governing.  The  people  became  quiet, 
but  did  not  receive  them  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  conspirators, 
joined  by  some  who  had  had  no  share  in  the  deed,  proceeded  to  the 
Capitol  to  pay  their  vows  to  the  gods.*®^  When  they  had  arrived 
there,  they  stationed  guards  at  intervals  around  the  place.  For  they 
feared  Lepidus  and  his  recently  enrolled  legion  which  was  on  the 
Tiber  island,  as  well  as  the  consul  Antonius  and  the  veterans  of 
Caesar."^ 

The  conspirators  had  already  gone  up  to  the  Capitol  when 
three  slaves  bore  Caesar's  mangled  corpse  upon  a  litter  from  the 
curia  through  the  Forum  to  his  residence.*®* 

To  the  crowd  that  thronged  the  Forum,  L.  Cornelius  Cinna,  the 
praetor,  appeared  and  in  full  view  laid  aside  his  official  robe 
because  it  had  been  given  him  by  a  tyrant,  and  proceeded  to  address 
the  people,  calling  Caesar  a  tyrant  and  his  slayers  tyrannoctoni. 
Glorifying  their  deed,  he  urged  that  they  be  summoned  from  the 
Capitol  as  benefactors  and  rewarded  as  such.*®*^  The  speech  of  Cinna 
was  probably  too  violent  to  meet  the  approval  of  the  people.  They 
showed  no  disposition  to  act  on  his  suggestion.  But  when  Publius 
Cornelius  Dolabella,  the  young  man  who  had  been  designated  by 

»*'  That  the  conspirators  halted  in  the  Forum  and  one  or  more  of  them  addressed  the  people  before 
going  to  the  Capitol  is  expressly  stated  by  Dio  (xliv.  21.  i  ff.).  Nor  is  the  account  of  Dio  contradicted,  but 
rather  conflrmed,  by  Appian.  who.  as  MuUer  has  shown,  gives  a  fragment  of  a  speech  then  made.  The 
truth  is  that  the  Forum  was  their  first  objective  point  when  they  started  from  the  curia.  There  they  would 
find  the  people  to  whom  they  were  desirous  of  explaining  their  deed  and  whose  approval  they  confidently 
expected  to  obtain.  It  was  only  when  the  people  did  not  join  them  (tou  Srjuov  6i  ainoU  ov  irpo<r9iovTOi, 
ifvtfpovv  Ktu  iStSoUttrav— App.  u.  119)  that  they  proceeded  to  the  Capitol.  Hence  the  impression  was 
produced  that  they  fled  thither. 

»••  Dio  xliv.  ai.a.^The  names  of  those  who  joined  the  conspirators  were,  Lentulus  Spinther,  Favonius, 
M.  Aquinus,  Murcus.  Patiscus,  and  Gains  Octavius.  Vide  Plut.  Caes.  67.  Appian  (ii.  119)  also  mentions 
Dolabella  in  the  list,  but  be  probably  went  up  to  the  Capitol  later. 

'•1  App.  ii.  118,  119;  Dio  xliv.  ai.  a. 

••*Nic  Dam.  a6;  Suet.  lul.  8a;  App.  ii.  118. 

***  App.  ii.  lai.  Appian's  charge  in  chaps.  lao  and  lai  that  the  conspirators  bribed  the  multitude 
ii  not  borne  out  by  the  other  sources.  This  accusation  must  be  ascribed  to  Apiuan's  strong  Caesarian 
bias.     Krause  (p.  5)  shows  that  the  mood  of  the  people  was  not  so  hostile  to  the  consiHrators  at  that  time. 

Plutarch  {Brut.  18)  erroneously  places  Cinna's  con/io  after  the  descent  of  the  conspirators  from  the 
Capitol  and  after  Brutus'  speech.  Appian's  account  of  the  order  of  these  events  is  the  correct  one.  For 
Plutarch's  error  in  regard  to  Cinna  vide  Dnimaim  (Groebe),  II.  p.  508,  n.  10. 


I 


60 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Caesar  to  succeed  him  in  the  consulship  when  he  should  leave  for 
the  Parthian  expedition,  appeared  in  the  consul's  dress  and  *>wt^- 
n*a/««  and  pretended  to  have  been  privy  to  the  plot  against  Caesar 
and  to  have  been  absent  from  its  execution  against  his  will,  then 
the  conspirators  were  summoned  from  the  Capitol  by  the  people,  and 
Brutus  and  Cassius  went  down  to  the  Forum  alone,  according  to 
Appian,  accompanied  by  the  gladiators  of  Decimus  Brutus  and  by 
slaves,  according  to  the  account  of  Nicolaus  of  Damascus.  \Plutarch 
states' that   all   the   conspirators   descended   to   the    Forutn."^      It 
seems  unlikely  that  the  conspirators  should  have  entirely  deserted 
their  stronghold,  especially  as  the  troops  of  Lepidus  had  probably 
by  that  time  been  posted  in  the  Campus  Martins  "«  in  the  rear  of 
the  Capitoline  Hill.    How  easy  it  would  have  been  for  Lepidus  to 
occupy  the  Capitol  during  the  absence  of  Marcus  Brutus  and  his 
party!     Again  there  was  no  such  danger  to  Brutus  and  Cassius 
alone  from  the  crowd  in  the  Forum  as  modem  writers  think.      For 
did  not  the  people  request  them  to  come  down,"'  and  had  not  Dola- 
bella  with  impunity  just  assailed  Caesar?    At  any  rate,  both  Brutus 
and  Cassius  addressed  the  people,"^   Brutus  being  the  principal 
speaker.    They  were  heard  in  respectful  silence.    Neither  one,  Appian 
tells  us,  assumed  a  humble  tone,  but  spoke  of  what  they  had  done 
as  something  confessedly  noble.    They  praised  one  another,  eulogized 
the  city,  and  especially  commended  Decimus  because  he  had  fur- 
nished them  with  gladiators  in  good  season."^     They  also  urged 
the  people  to  imitate  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors  who  had  destroyed 
kings  that  did  not  rule  by  force  as  Caesar  did,  and  to  choose  their 
magistrates  in  accordance  with  the  laws.    They  advocated  the  recall 
of  Sextus  Pompeius  and  the  tribunes,  Caesetius  and  Marullus,  who 

»•*  App  ii  laa  DoUbelU's  assumption  of  the  consulship  was  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Ides.  For 
Dk)  (xHv  aa)  piacea  it  before  the  occupation  of  the  Forum  by  Lepidus  with  his  troops  which  occurred 
during  the  night  of  the  I5th-i6th  or  on  the  early  morning  of  the  i6th.  And  Appian  places  it  before  the 
deKent  of  the  conspirators  from  the  Capitol.  It  is  little  probable  that  the  conspirators  or  their  fnends.  real 
or  pretended,  appeared  in  the  Forum  on  the  i6th,  when  it  was  occupied  by  the  hostile  troops  of  Lepidus. 
How  much  more  natural  was  it  for  Dolabella  at  that  time  to  appear  in  favor  of  the  conspirators,  than  after- 
ward when  popular  opinion  had  been  inHuenced  against  them  by  the  active  measures  of  Lepidus  and 
Antonius. 

«•»  App.  u.  xaa;  NIc.  Dam.  a6;  Flut.  Cats.  67,  BnU.  18. 

«••  App.  u.  118;  Dio.  xliv.  19.  a.  '••  Plut.  Brut.  18;    App.  ii.  laa. 

"•App..foc.««.;  Nic.Dam.a6;  ?lnt.  Bna.,loc.cit.,Caes.67.  As  I  have  already  suted.  the  descent 
of  Brutus  and  Cassius  from  the  Capitol  and  their  speeches  in  the  Forum  must  have  occurred  on  the  Idea. 
Foe  so  Nicolaus  puts  it  (Schmidt.  Die  kitten  KAmpfe,  p.  68x). 

•»»  This  is  Appian's  own  reason  why  they  praised  Decimus.  Brutus  and  Cassius  would  not  havt 
been  io  naive  as  to  give  such  a  reason  for  commending  their  fellow-conspirator. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


61 


had  gone  into  voluntary  exile  when  they  had  been  deprived  of  their 
office  by  Caesar.^^* 

After  their  speeches,  which  were  probably  not  received  with 
the  enthusiasm  they  had  anticipated,  Brutus  and  Cassius,  not  feeling 
entire  confidence  in  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  returned  to  the 
Capitol.^^*  In  the  evening  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the  libera^ 
tores,  and  among  them  Dolabella,  Cicero,  and  other  consulares 
repaired  to  the  Capitol."*  There  was  probably  a  free  discussion  of 
the  situation  and  of  what  was  best  to  be  done.  Cicero  urged  with 
much  vehemence  that  the  praetors,  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
immediately  call  the  senate  to  meet  in  the  Capitol.*^'  Some  one, 
probably,  also  advocated  that  the  liberatores  through  their  influence 
in  the  senate,  of  which  they  and  their  friends  constituted  a 
majority,^^*  carry  out  the  intention,  which  Suetonius^"  tells  us 
they  originally  had,  namely,  to  have  a  decree  passed  commanding 
Caesar's  body  to  be  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  his  property  confiscated, 
and  his  acts  rescinded.  But  more  moderate  counsels  prevailed.  For 
the  conspirators  probably  saw  that,  if  the  senate  passed  such  an  act, 
it  would  cause  an  immediate  clash  between  themselves  and  their 
gladiators  on  one  side,  and  the  troops  of  Lepidus  reinforced  by  the 
veterans  of  Caesar  on  the  other.  They  hoped  that  the  republic 
might  be  restored  without  resort  to  arms.  They  did  not  foresee  that 
Roman  society  (especially  the  military  element)  at  that  time  was 
too  much  subject  to  the  corrupt  influence  of  powerful  and  designing 
leaders  for  any  such  hope  to  be  realized.  So,  instead  of  accepting 
Cicero's  advice,  they  proposed  to  send  commissioners  to  Antonius, 
the  consul,  and  Lepidus,  Caesar's  magister  equitum,  with  a  view 
to  the  re-establishment  of  the  republic.  They  wished  Cicero  to  be 
one  of  these  commissioners,  but  he  refused  owing  to  lack  of  confi- 
dence in  M.  Antonius."®  Other  consulares  "•  then  went  to  Antonius 
and  Lepidus  to  treat  with  them  on  behalf  of  the  liberatores  for  peace, 

»»•  Schelle,  Todeshampf,  pp.  a-5;  App.  ii.  12a.  Frdhlich  (De  rebus  a  Caesare  occiso.  etc.,  p,  57)  puts 
the  descent  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  to  the  Forum  on  the  Ides.  It  was  certainly  not  on  the  i6th  when  Lepidus 
held  the  Forum. 

■»*  Nic.  Dam.  27;  App.  ii.  123. 

»»«  App.  ii.  123;  Dio  xliv.  22.  i;  Cic.  AU.  xiv.  10.  i,  Phil.  ii.  89. 

«»»  Cic.  AU.,  loc.  cit.  »»•  App.  ii.  124,  127. 

*'*  Suet.  lul.  83.  Suetonius  does  not  say  that  the  conspirators  intended  that  these  acts  be  authorized 
by  the  senate.  But  his  language  certainly  implies  such  a  senatus  consuUum  involving  the  damnatio 
memoriae  of  the  dictator.     Cf.  Appian's  account  in  chap.  137  of  the  debate  in  the  senate  on  the  17th. 

»»•  Qc.  PkU.  u.  89.  «»•  Cic,  loc.  d^. 


62 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


the  safeguarding  of  freedom,  and  the  avoidance  of  bloodshed."® 
One  specific  proposition  they  made  as  a  basis  of  agreement,  namely, 
that  Caesar's  appointments  to  office  remain  in  force.*"  They  also 
invited  Antonius  and  Lepidus  up  to  the  Capitol  to  discuss  in  person 
the  matters  proposed."^  Antonius  and  Lepidus  postponed  making 
their  reply  until  the  next  day."^  They  wished  to  avenge  Caesar, 
acording  to  Appian,  on  account  of  friendship,  the  obligation  of  their 
oaths,  or  because  of  their  own  ambition  to  rule.  They  thought  that 
all  things  would  be  easier  for  them,  if  so  many  powerful  men  should 
be  removed  at  a  single  stroke.  But  they  feared  the  friends  and 
relatives  of  the  conspirators  and  the  senate,  which  was  favorable  to 
them,  and  especially  did  they  fear  Decimus  Brutus,  whom  Caesar 
had  chosen  governor  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  where  there  was  a  large 
army.  They  resolved  to  endeavor  to  attach  this  army  to  their  own 
cause."*  Their  policy  was  delay,  and  this  was  especially  true  in 
the  case  of  Antonius,  who  as  yet  had  no  military  force  at  his  back 
and  who  wished  time  to  gain  over  the  veterans  of  Caesar,  many  of 
whom  were  at  that  time  in  the  city,  having  come  to  see  Caesar  off 

for  the  East. 

We  have  assumed  all  along  that  Decimus  Brutus  had  left  the 
curia  with  the  other  conspirators  and  had  remained  with  them  up 
to  the  time  when  the  conunissioners  returned  from  Antonius  and 
Lepidus.  On  the  next  evening,  however,  the  i6th,  Decimus  was  no 
longer  with  his  colleagues  on  the  Capitol,  but  was  somewhere  else 
in  the  city,  either  at  his  home  or  in  hiding.  For  on  the  morning  of 
the  17th,  if  Schmidt's  dating  of  the  letter  (Fam.  xi.  i)  is,  as  I 
believe,  the  correct  one,"**  Decimus  wrote  to  Marcus  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  saying,  among  other  things :  Heri  vesperi  apud  me  Hirtius 
fuit    It  remains  for  us  to  explain  when  and  why  he  left  them. 

In  this  letter  certain  expressions  occur  which  indicate  that, 
wherever  Decimus  is,  he  is  authorized  to  speak  for  his  associates 

«••  App.  ii.  123.  •'•  Nic.  Dam.  a?- 

«•«  Nic.  Dam.  27.  '**  Echoed  in  Fam.  xi.  i.  i.     Vid*  infra. 

«•♦  This  is  Appian 's  report  (ii.  124)  of  the  motives  and  aims  of  Antonius  and  Lepidus. 

»•»  Schmidt, " Correspondenx  Qceros  seit  Caesars  Tode,"  Jahrb.  /.  /»*«/.,  1884.  P-  334-  This  dating 
is  accepted  by  Tyrell  and  Purser  (V,  p.  217)  *nd  Abbott,  Letters  of  Cicero,  p.  248-  But  Groebe  (Drumann, 
Ankang,  I,  pp.  400  ff.)  thinks  that  the  letter  was  written  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th.  The  only  objection 
that  1  can  see  to  the  dating  of  Schmidt  is  that  there  is  no  mention  of  the  meeting  of  the  senate  that  took 
place  on  the  17th  and  was  in  progress  at  the  time  Schmidt  supposes  Decimus  to  have  written.  But  why 
should  Decimus  speak  of  that  which  the  conspirators  on  the  Capitol  would  know  ?  The  acts  of  Caesar 
had  not  yet  been  ratified.  The  senate  had  probably  at  that  time  come  to  no  conclusion  whatever  in  regard 
to  the  issue  raised  by  the  death  of  Caesar,  and  the  debate  was  still  in  progress.    The  letter  of  Dedmu* 


decimus'   part  in  THE  ASSASSINATION 


63 


on  the  Capitol.  In  the  first  two  sections  he  gives  an  account  of  an 
interview  he  has  had  with  Hirtius.  Hirtius  had  reported  to  him 
Antonius'  disposition  toward  him  and  the  rest — that  it  was  the 
worst  and  most  treacherous ;  Antonius  had  said  that  he  could  not 
give  him  (Decimus)  a  province,  and  did  not  think  that  any  of  the 
conspirators  were  safe  in  the  city — so  excited  were  the  people  and 
soldiers.  "Both  of  these  statements  I  think  you  understand  are  false," 
continues  Decimus,  "and,  as  Hirtius  showed,  this  is  true,  namely, 
that  Antonius  is  afraid  that,  if  we  should  obtain  even  a  moderate 
support  for  our  position,  no  part  would  be  left  for  them  to  play  in 
the  state.  Being  in  this  difficult  situation,  I  resolved  to  demand 
for  myself  and  the  rest  of  us  a  legatio  libera,  that  some  honorable 
excuse  for  leaving  the  city  might  be  found.'*  The  expression, 
placitum  est  mihi  tit  postularem  legationem  liheram  mihi  reliquisque 
nostris,  shows  that  Decimus  is  treating  with  Hirtius,  not  only  for 
himself,  but  also  in  behalf  of  his  confederates.  The  letter  continues : 
"Hirtius  promised  to  secure  for  us  a  legatio  libera,  but  I  have  no 
confidence  that  he  will  secure  it,  the  general  feeling  is  so  overbearing 
and  hostile  to  us ;  and  if  they  do  grant  our  request,  I  believe  that,  in 
spite  of  it,  they  will  adjudge  us  enemies  or  sentence  us  to  exile." 
In  view  of  his  lack  of  confidence  in  Antonius  and  his  party,  Deci- 
mus suggests  that  they  go  into  voluntary  exile,  and,  if  the  situation 
improves,  they  will  return  to  Rome ;  while,  if  the  worst  comes  to  the 
worst,  they  will  have  recourse  to  the  last  expedient,  that  is,  civil 
war.  But  Decimus  is  against  civil  war  save  as  a  last  resort. 
"Because,"  he  adds,  "we  have  no  rallying-point  except  Sextus  Pom- 
peius  and  Caecilius  Bassus,  who,  I  think,  will  be  strengthened  by  the 
news  about  Caesar.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  have  recourse  to  them 
when  we  shall  know  how  strong  they  are.  If  you  and  Cassius  want 
me  to  make  any  agreement  for  you,  I  shall  do  so;  for  Hirtius 
demands  this  of  me.     Answer  this  as  soon  as  possible,  for  I  think 

shows  that  Antonius  was  the  power  to  be  reckoned  with;  and  probably  when  the  senate  met  on  the  morning 
of  the  1 7lh.  Antonius  had  not  definitely  decided  whether  to  let  Decimu.«!  haw  his  province  or  not.  Antonius 
was  an  opportunist  and  was  going  to  make  the  best  arrangement  possible  for  himself.  Again,  is  it  likely 
that  Antonius  who  had  run  away  in  mortal  terror  at  midday  and  hid  himself  would  have  so  far  recovered 
his  composure  by  evening  as  to  assume  the  haughty  attitude  this  letter  ascribes  to  him  ?  To  put  this  letter, 
indicating  as  it  does  that  the  conspirators  had  been  reduced  to  desperate  straits,  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th 
is  to  contradict  the  testimony  of  Nicolaus  17:  rfj  rt  wputrg  rffiifta  xai  Jevrcpf  KarairenKtyfitvtav  im.  tmv 
Kai'flr«p<K  ^lAMf,  roAAov«  avroi;  npovixtw,  eirel  V  ot  ex  rS»v  vepioiKi6mv  noktuv  xAijpoOxot,  out  cxetvof 
KAT<(»Ki7c  re  KOi  raU  woXtviv  iyxaTivTritrev,  Jikov  wanwKri0tU  *»«  tow«  irepi  A^irt£oi'  tov  ivvapxriv  koI 
'AKTwytov  Thy  aviniwaroy  KeuVopof,  circ^iei'ai  avroi;  rbv  ^oi'Oi'  vwioxyovfLevov^,  VKf8<ur0^vai.  tow? 
voAAovf. 


64 


DECmUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Hirtius  will  inform  me  about  these  matters  before  nine  o'clock; 
write  me  where  we  can  meet  and  where  you  want  me  to  come.  After 
Hirtius'  last  talk,  I  have  decided  to  ask  that  we  be  permitted  to 
remain  at  Rome  with  a  public  guard.  I  don't  think  they  will  grant 
this,  for  we  shall  make  them  unpopular.  However,  I  think  I  ought 
to  demand  everything  that  I  consider  fair." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  sentence,  placitum  est  mihi  postulare 
ut  liceret  twbis  Romae  esse  publico  praesidio,  also  indicates  that 
Decimus  speaks  as  a  representative  of  the  conspirators  as  a  body. 
Pro  Cassio  et  te,  si  quid  me  velitis  recipere,  recipiam  seems  to  point 
the  other  way.  But  the  meaning  here  is:  "If  you  and  Cassius 
want  me  to  make  any  specific  agreement  involving  an  obligation 
on  your  part,  I  shall  do  so,  for  this  is  what  Hirtius  demands."  In 
other  words,  Decimus,  who  has  friends  among  the  Caesarians  owing 
to  his  long  military  service  with  them,  either  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility or  at  the  suggestion  of  his  confederates,  had  left  the  Capitol 
and  gone  out  into  the  city  to  use  his  influence  with  his  former 
comrades  in  arms  to  bring  about  an  agreement  between  those  who 
had  slain  Caesar,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Antonius  and  Lepidus,  on 
the  other.  He  was  probably  also  to  bring  all  the  pressure  he  could 
to  bear  upon  the  members  ^®«  of  the  senate  to  bring  them  into  line 
with  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  liberatores;  and  he  was,  further- 
more, to  keep  his  friends  upon  the  Capitol  informed  of  the  attitude 
of  the  people."'  Decimus  then  must  have  left  the  conspirators  on 
the  night  of  the  15th  after  the  return  of  the  messengers  from 
Antonitfs. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  i6th — or  even  on  the  night  before — 
Lepidus  occupied  the  Forum  with  his  troops,  and  at  dawn  harangued 
the  people  against  the  slayers  of  Caesar.""  It  was  probably  early  in 
the  morning  of  the  i6th,  too,  that  Antonius  announced  to  the  peace 
commissioners  who  had  visited  him  again  "•  to  receive  his  promised 
answer  to  those  on  the  Capitol,  that  all  questions  raised  by  the  death 
of  Caesar  would  have  to  be  settled  by  the  senate."® 

«••  This  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  statement  of  Appian  (ii.  laj),  referring  particularly  to  the  night 
of  the  16th:  ««i  a  avrir  iitov  ar«  riiv  yv«T«  waaat^  it  rit  ritv  fiovktvriv  ouctaf  et  ritp  «v<po^M*r 
•ucatei,  «ap«ucaAovrrcf  vwifi  ainmv  «<u  vircp  ti)V  varptov  woXmimt. 

«•»  Par.  1 :  Quo  in  statu  simus,  cognosciU.  Wc  get  a  hint  of  this  also  in  the  expreMon  (par.  a),  tatUa 
tst  kominum  insoUntia  ei  nostri  insectatio,  and  (par.  i)  where  he  says  Antonius'  sUtement  about  the  agitation 
of  the  soldiers  and  people  is  false. 

lU  Dio  zliv.  aa.  a;  Nic  Dam.  27« 

»••  Qc.  Phil.  ii.  89.  »••  App.  H.  ia4- 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


65 


Nicolaus  "^  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  situation  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  i6th— of  the  light  in  which  the  various  parties  viewed  the 
death  of  Caesar  and  of  the  activities  of  the  Caesarians.    His  report, 
condensed,   is  as   follows:     When  the  people   saw  the  troops  of 
Lepidus  in  the  city  and  Antonius  assuming  a  bold  front,  those  who 
had  before  hesitated  now  took  up  arms  and  flocked  to  the  standards 
of  Lepidus  and  Antonius.     Some  did  this  from  fear,  because  they 
did  not  wish  to  appear  elated  at  the  death  of  Caesar,  and  by  siding 
with  Antonius  and  Lepidus,  they  hoped  to  secure  their  future  safety 
Messages  were  sent  to  those  who  had  received  from  Caesar  bene- 
factions, homes  in  cities  other  than  Rome,  allotments  of  land,  or 
grants  of  money,  to  the  effect  that  they  were  in  danger  of  being 
disturbed  in  their  possessions  unless  they  made  a  demonstration 
of  their  strength.    The  veterans  of  Caesar  were  entreated  to  remem- 
ber their  former  chieftain  and  rally  to  the  standard  of  his  friends  "* 
Many  were  influenced  by  pity  and  friendship ;  many  found  profit 
in  revolution,  especially  when  they  saw  the  opposite  party  not  so 
active    and    strong    as    they    had    anticipated."^     It  was    publicly 
proclaimed  that  Caesar  must  be  avenged. 

The  advocates  of  a  free  republic,  though  pleased  at  what  had 
been  done,  criticized  the  liberatores  because  they  had  stopped  short 
at  the  death  of  Caesar  and  had  not  made  away  with  others  who 
were  then  under  suspicion,  and  thus  made  liberty  secure. 

There  was  also  the  party  of  the  moderates,  who  placed  themselves 
between  the  opposing  factions.  They  remembered  the  sudden 
changes  of  fortune  in  the  time  of  Sulla,  when  those  who  seemed  to 
have  been  destroyed  regained  their  courage  and  expelled  the  victors 
They  believed  that  Caesar,  even  though  dead,  would  cause  much 
trouble  to  those  who  had  killed  him  and  to  their  party.  For  large 
armies  under  capable  leaders  were  arrayed  against  them 

Antonius  and  his  associates,  before  they  decided  on  a  plan  of 
action,  conferred,  through  intermediaries,  with  those  who  were  on 
the  Capitol.  Meantime  trusting  in  their  force  of  soldiers  increased 
by  those  who  had  taken  up  arms,  they  proceeded  to  administer  the 

"•  Nic.  Dam.  27;  cf.  App.  U.  130. 

.9.  These  appeals  to  the  veterans  and  colonists  of  Caesar  had  much  influence  For  An™a„  r-  ^ 
after  mentioning  that  Antonius  had  called  a  meeting  of  the  «=enatVfor  the  n^  hTv  r'.  ^u'^'^T  ^  "'^• 
of  the  .6th),  .says:  i^c,rap«*,o.  W  «al  oi  ri.  KXrLT^^  Z^^IT  'I   f"       ^  •    *^  '^'°  '^'  "'"°*"« 


66 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


i 


government,  quelling  all  disturbances  in  the  city.^»*     First,  how- 
ever, they  assembled  their  friends  and  held  a  council  as  to  what 
should  be  their  attitude  toward  the  assassins.     Lepidus  advocated 
making  war  upon  them  and  avenging  the  death  of  Caesar.    Hirtius 
favored    treating    with    them    and    conciliating    their    friendship. 
Another,  in  agreement  with  Lepidus,  said  that  it  would  be  an  impiety 
to  suffer  the  death  of  Caesar  to  go  unpunished,  and  besides  it  would 
not  be  safe  for  the  dictator's  friends.    For  even  if  at  that  time  the 
assassins  were  disposed  to  be  peaceable,  as  soon  as  they  had  the 
power  they  would  not  stop.    Antonius  took  the  view  of  Hirtius ;  he 
thought  immunity  should  be  granted  to  the  assassins.     Some  urged 
that  they  be  sent  out  of  the  city  under  a  truce  {legatio  libera).^''* 
From  this  narrative,  taken  in  connection  with  a  previous  state- 
ment of  Nicolaus,*»«  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Caesarians  had  by  the 
evening  of  the  i6th  recovered  from  the  consternation  with  which 
they  were  stricken  by  the  death  of  Caesar.     The  presence  of  the 
soldiers  of  Lepidus  in  the  Forum,  the  gathering  of  the  veterans 
and  colonists  of  Caesar  under  the  standards  of  Antonius  and  Lepidus 
—in  comparison  with  the  pitifully  small  force  that  the  conspirators 
could  muster  on  the  Capitol— produced  a  revulsion  of  feeling  among 
the  people  at  large  and  acted  as  a  damper  on  those  who  sympathized 
with  what  had  been  done  the  day  before  in  the  Curia  Pompeia,    The 
situation  of  the   conspirators   was  precarious.     Their  handful   of 
gladiators  was  doubtless  merely  intended  to  frighten  off  any  rash 
friends  of  Caesar  among  the  senators  or  people  who  might  be  dis- 
posed to  resent  with  violence  the  death  of  the  dictator.    They  had 
not  anticipated  that  they  would  be  confronted  by  a  whole  army  of 
veterans  and  recruits  under  the  consul  and  magister  equitum.    Still 
less  had  they  expected  to  be  able,  with  that  little  band,  consisting  of 
a  few  hundred  at  the  most,  to  overawe  the  Roman  people,  including 
the  armed  legion  of  Lepidus,  and  thus  force  their  way  into  power. 
It  is  improbable  that  any  such  design  had  suggested  itself  to  them. 
The  truth  is  that  they  had  formed  beforehand  no  plans  at  all.    Nearly 
three  months  after  the  Ides  of  March,  Brutus  and  Cassius,  the 
leaders  of  the  conspiracy,  were  still  uncertain  what  course  of  action 

«•♦  Appian  (u.  las)  states  what  measures  Antonius  took  for  keepinK  order  in  the  dty  the  night  of  the 
,6th  when  he  had  gotten  things  weU  in  hand:  4  W  Arr-rto.  rAt  i^ip  ipx*«  «rfA.v<r.  Kw«To4vA«.i.'  Ti,r 
w^XtK  U  «Mi^»i«T<K  ir  l^iv^  npomoBrinirat  »<nrtp  «r  iiiiipf  ««  <»«»'  wwfMU  fr«^«x«v  ««t«  t4  .ittv. 

*«s  Nic.  Dam.  a?. 

«••  Cf.  Nic.  Dam.  17;  vide  p.  69.  note. 


DECIMUS'   PART  IN  THE  ASSASSINATION 


67 


to  take.     They  had  been  letting  matters  drift  as  they  would;  they 
had  taken  no  aggressive  step ;  in  short,  they  had  done  nothing.    At 
their  conference  at  Antium,  June  8,  Cicero  ^"  told  Marcus  Brutus 
that  all  that  they  could  do  then  was  to  consult  for  his  (Brutus') 
safety.    In  their  perplexity,  Brutus  and  Cassius,  especially  the  latter, 
bewailed  the  opportunities  that  had  been  lost.     Cicero  repeated  to 
them  his  old  story  "»  of  what  their  plan  of  action  should  have  been: 
"That  the  senate  should  have  been  summoned;  the  people,  already 
burning  with  enthusiasm,  should  have  been  still  further  aroused; 
the  whole  government  of  the  state  should  have  been  taken  in  hand." 
After  this  fruitless  conference,  in  which  Cicero  had  performed  the 
duty  of  giving  what  poor  advice  he  could  at  that  late  hour  to  these 
hesitating   and    uncertain   leaders,   he   wrote   to   Atticus:"*     "In 
truth,  I  found  the  ship  (of  state)  going  to  pieces,  or  rather  already 
in  fragments.    No  plan,  no  system,  no  method !"    This  failure  of  the 
liberatores  to  form  beforehand  any  definite  plan  of  action,  together 
with  their  utter  lack  of  ^gressiveness  after  Caesar  had  been  slain, 
is  proof,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  desire  to  grasp  power  for  them- 
selves was  not  their  controlling  motive.     Besides,  had  they  wished 
to  supplant  Caesar  in  his  rule,  their  ambition  would  probably  betray 
itself  somewhere  in  the  extant  correspondence  of  Cicero  and  them- 
selves.    They  perhaps  knew  as  well  as  we  do  that  the  only  justifica* 
tion  for  such  an  act  as  theirs  was  a  sincere  desire  to  restore  the 
ancient  liberty.    Their  lack  of  foresight  and  their  quixotic  belief  in 
the  patriotism  of  the  Roman  people  remain  the  best  evidence  of 
their  singleness  of  purpose.     They  had  evidently  imagined  that, 
when  the  tyrant  had  been  once  removed,  the  people  would  respond 
almost  en  masse  to  the  call  of  liberty,  the  tyranny  would  fall  by  its 
own  weight,  and  the  republic  would  restore  itself.*®® 

If  now  they  were  to  be  saved  from  the  soldiers  of  Lepidus,  their 
preservation  depended  upon  Antonius.  Antonius  was  ambitious, 
and  it  served  his  purpose  to  secure  the  good-will  of  the  senate,  which 
was  well  disposed  toward  those  who  had  removed  its  enemy,  Caesar. 
It  was  to  his  interest,  too,  not  to  permit  Lepidus  to  secure  the  whip- 
hand  in  the  state.  Lepidus  commanded  the  soldiers,  and  if 
vengeance  were  to  be  inflicted  on  the  murderers  of  Caesar,  Lepidus 
would  play  the  leading  part  therein,  and  thus  obtain  for  himself  the 


«"  AU.  XV.  II.  •••  Cf.  AU.  xiv.  lo.  I.  .9»  Att.  xv.  ii.  3. 

•«~  Cf.  Att.  xiv.  4.  I.     Bfuidem  doUo,  quod  numquam  in  iMa  civitate  accidit  mm  una  cum  liberlaie 
rtmpubltcam  reciperaium. 


68 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


I 


coveted  supremacy.  Consequently,  in  the  councils  of  the  Caesarians, 
when  Lepidus  advocated  vengeance,  Antonius  opposed  him.  But 
this  did  not  prevent  Antonius  from  assuming  the  ugly  disposition 
toward  Decimus  Brutus  and  his  associates  *®^  to  which  reference  is 
made  in  the  letter  of  Decimus,  the  substance  of  which  we  have 
already  given  at  length.  To  Hirtius,  who  acted  as  intermediary 
between  him  and  Decimus,  he  purposely  exaggerated  the  excite- 
ment of  the  people  and  soldiers,  in  order  to  make  the  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  immunity  for  those  who  had  killed  Caesar  seem  greater 
than  they  were.  He  wished  to  impress  them  and  their  friends,  who 
constituted  a  majority  of  the  senate,  with  the  idea  that  the  safety  of 
the  conspirators  was  difficult  to  obtain,  and  that,  if  he  did  obtain  it, 
great  should  be  their  gratitude  to  him.  Decimus  Brutus  saw  through 
this  subterfuge  and  the  essential  duplicity  of  Antonius,  probably 
being  well  aware  that  the  excitement  among  the  soldiers  and  people 
against  himself  and  his  confederates  had  been  diligently  fomented 
by  Antonius  and  Lepidus.  The  killing  of  Caesar,  however,  was 
unpopular  with  the  veterans  and  soldiers  of  Lepidus,  aaid  Decimus 
feared  that  whatever  strength  he  and  his  associates  had  with  the 
senate  and  the  people  at  large  would  not  avail  against  the  menacing 
military  force  of  the  magister  equitum  and  the  consul.  Hence  his 
demand  for  a  legatio  libera — a  demand  that  seems  too  modest  in 
view  of  subsequent  events.  But  Decimus,  both  from  motives  of 
self-preservation  and  from  a  desire  of  peace,  was  opposed  to  any 
aggressive  action  that  might  result  in  civil  war.  Hirtius,  after  Deci- 
mus had  written  the  main  part  of  his  letter,  returns  to  him  and 
reports  the  spirit  in  which  Antonius  received  the  demand  for  the 
legatio  libera.  Now  Decimus,  without  having  heard  from  Brutus 
and  Cassius  in  the  meantime,  grows  bolder  and,  in  lieu  of  his  first 
proposition,  asks  that  he  and  the  rest  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
Rome  publico  praesidio.  Thus  they  would  be  safe  from  the  soldiers, 
and  their  plight  would  arouse  among  the  people  sympathy  for 
themselves  and  hostility  toward  Antonius  and  Lepidus. 

Early  on  this  same  morning  on  which  Decimus  wrote  to  Marcus 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  the  senate  assembled  at  the  call  of  Antonius 
in  the  Temple  of  Tellus.^®^    aU  the  approaches  to  the  temple  were 

••»  Fam.  zi.  i.  i. 

»•«  This  unusual  metting-jJace,  near  his  own  residence  in  the  Carinae.  Antonius  chose  out  of  considcra- 
adcm  for  his  own  safety,  says  Appian.     But  it  was  probably  not  so  much  from  fear  of  ph\'sical  harm  at 


decimus'  part  in  the  assassination 


69 


guarded  by  armed  veterans  under  the  orders  of  the  consul.*®'  After 
much  discussion  and  many  proposals,  for  the  most  part  favorable  to 
the  liberator es,^^*^  on  the  motion  of  Cicero,  supported  by  Antonius  and 
L.  Munatius  Plancus,^®^  amnesty  was  voted  to  those  who  had  had  a 
part  in  killing  Caesar.^®*  Then  a  senatus  consultum  confirming  the 
acts  of  Caesar,  pacis  causa,  was  passed.^®^  Before  the  senate  had 
come  to  any  decision,  Marcus  Brutus  to  an  assembly  of  the  people 
and  the  veterans  on  the  Capitol,  in  response  to  the  clamors  of  the 
latter,  promised  that  he  and  his  confederates  would  not  invalidate 
the  acts  of  Caesar.  The  assassins  also  distributed  handbills  in  the 
Forum  announcing  that  Caesar's  grants  of  land,  etc.,  should  remain 
in  force.^®®  And  so,  in  addition  to  the  other  senatus  consulta,  a 
special  measure  in  favor  of  the  veterans  was  passed  ratifying  the 
allotment  of  land  that  Caesar  had  given  them.^o*  The  senatus  con- 
sultum confirming  the  validity  of  Caesar's  acts  was  then  made  a  lex 
by  a  vote  of  the  people  in  the  comitia.''^''  The  men  on  the  Capitol 
would  not  come  down  until  Antonius  and  Lepidus  had  given  them 
their  sons  as  hostages."^  A  contio  was  held  in  the  Forum,  and 
when  the  consuls  wished  to  speak  they  were  not  permitted  by  the 
people  until  they  had  publicly  shaken  hands  with  the  leaders  of  the 
conspiracy  in  token  of  reconciliation."^  j^^^^  ^j^j^^  Marcus  Brutus 
was  entertained  by  Lepidus,  Cassius  by  Antonius,"^  and  the  rest 
received  invitations  from  their  respective  friends  or  relatives.*^* 

Next  day  the  senate  reassembled  and  on  the  motion  of  L.  Piso 
voted  that  the  will  of  Caesar  be  opened  and  read."''  It  was  also 
voted  that  he  be  given  a  public  funeral.  These  proposals  were 
opposed  by  some  of  the  conspirators  and  their  friends,  but  Marcus 

he  hands  of  the  conspirators  on  the  Capitol  that  he  did  not  choose  the  Curia  lulia  for  a  meeting-place. 
On  the  one  hand,  he  feared  more  the  conspirators'  influence  in  the  senate,  and  on  the  other,  he  did  not 
wish  the  meeting  held  in  such  close  proximity  to  the  soldiers  of  Lepidus  who  were  encamped  in  the  Forum. 
Vid€.  Cic.  Phil.  i.  31,  ii.  8q;  AU.  xvi.  14.  1;  App.  ii.  126;  Dio  xliv,  22.3,  xlvi.  28.  3. 

—*  Phil.  ii.  89;  AU.  jxv.  14.  2.  ••4  App.  ii.  127,  128;  Dio  xliv.  22.  3. 

••s  Phil.  i.  1,  31;  VeU.  u.  58.  4;  Plut.  Brut.  19;  PhU.  ii.  89;  Dio.  xUv.  28.  3, 

•^  Cic,  loc.  cit.\  VeU.  loc.  cit.;  Plut.  Brut.  loc.  cit..  Ant.  14;  App.  ii.  135;  Dio  xUv.  34.  i. 

»•»  Cic.  Att.  xvi.  14.1;  Phil.  ii.  100;  xiii.  10;  App.  ii.  135;  Phil.  i.  2,  16,  etc.,  etc.  Vide.  Drumann 
(Groebe),  I,  p.  68;  I.ange,  III,  p.  488;  Schmidt,  Die  letttm  Katnpfe,  p.  691. 

•••  Dio  xliv.  34;  cf.  App.  ii.  141;  Att.  xv.  la.  2,3.  2. 

»^  App.  B.  C.  ii.  13s;  Att.  xiv.  14.  2;  Phil.  i.  6.    Cf.  Groebe,  De  legibus  anni,  710,  p.  44. 

•»•  Groebe,  loc.  cit.,  and  Drumann  (Anhang),  I,  p.  416.    Was  this  lex  passed  on  the  17th  or  later  ? 

••«  Dio  xliv.  34.  6;  App.  ii.  142;  Plut.  Brut.  19. 

•«•  Cic.  Phil.  i.  32;  App.  ii.  142.  •««  Plut.  Brut.  19. 

•ij  Dio  xUv.  34.  7;  Plut.  Ant.  14,  Brut.  19.       ''s  Plut.  Brut.  20;  cf.  App.  u.  136;  Suet.  lul.  83. 


70 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Brutus  gave  them  his  sanction.'"  It  was  probably  also  on  this  day 
that  the  will  was  opened  and  read  in  the  house  of  Antonius.  The 
publication  of  Caesar's  will,  in  which  the  meanest  citizen  of  Rome 
was  generously  remembered,  Caesar's  spectacular  funeral,  and  the 
inflammatory  laudatio  funebris  of  Antonius,  stirred  the  people  to 
such  a  pitch  of  anger  against  the  liberatores  that  they  endeavored  to 
set  fire  to  their  houses,  whither  they  had  fled  for  refuge.  But  the 
liberatores  repelled  the  attacks  of  the  mob  by  force  of  arms.'*^ 

***  Plut.  Brut.  3o;  Cic.  Att.  ziv.  lo.  i,  14.  3.  Groebe,  following  Appian  (136),  placrs  these  senaius 
eonsuUa  on  the  17th.  But  Appian  evidently  interchanged  the  time  of  the  contio  and  the  descent  of  the 
liberatores  from  the  Capitol,  which  occurred  according  to  Cicero  (Phil.  i.  33)  on  the  17th,  with  that  of  the 
meeting  of  the  senate  to  discuss  Caesar's  will  and  funeral.  The  chronology  of  Plutarch,  though  usually 
untrustworthy,  seems  in  this  case  to  be  in  harmony  with  that  of  Cicero.  Judging  from  the  length  of  the 
discussion  which  Appian  represents  as  having  taken  place  on  the  17th,  it  is  hardly  probable  that  the  senate 
disposed  of  so  much  business  on  that  day  as  Groebe,  following  Lange  and  Dnimann,  would  have  us  believe. 

Again,  Groebe  thinks  that  there  was  a  special  senaius  consuUum  on  the  i8th,  confirming  Caesar's 
grant  of  provinces  to  the  liberatores.  Such  action  would  have  been  unnecessary  and  meaningless  after  the 
general  measures  confirming  all  the  acts  of  Caesar.  Schmidt  (Die  letnten  Kdmpfe,  p.  6qi)  has  shown  that 
there  is  no  authority  for  assuming  such  a  senatus  consultum. 

*"  The  funeral  of  Caesar  occiurred  on  the  aoth  or  21st.  The  maximum  interval  of  seven  days 
allowed  by  the  Romans  between  the  death  and  burial  expired  on  the  a  ist.  The  meetings  of  the  senate  on 
the  17th  and  i8th  and  the  holiday  on  the  iQth  (Quinquatrus)  excluded  any  one  of  those  days.  Hence  the 
funeral  must  have  taken  {dace  on  the  2oth  or  a ist.  Cf.  Herodian  iv.  a.  4;  Columella  ii.  ai  (aa).  5;  Cic. 
Phil.  ii.  gi,  Att.  ziv.  10.  i,  11.  i,  xv.  ao.  a;  App.  ii.  147, 148;  iii.  i,  a;  Dio  xliv.  35-53;  Suet.  lul.  84.  85; 
Plut.  Cats.  68,  Brut,  ao,  Ant.  14;  Liv.  Epit.  116.  The  house  of  L.  Bellienus  was  actually  burned  to  the 
grottiid. 


Ill 

DECIMUS'    ADMINISTRATION     OF    CISALPINE    GAUL 
AND  THE  WAR  WITH  ANTONIUS 

The  rage  and  excitement  of  the  populace  against  the  con- 
spirators that  succeeded  the  obsequies  of  Caesar  had  probably  sub- 
sided when  Decimus  Brutus  left  the  city  for  Cisalpine  Gaul,  his 
province.  The  date  of  his  arrival  there  was  not  later  than  the  15th  * 
of  April.  Allowing  a  reasonable  time  for  himself  and  retinue  of 
gladiators  *  to  make  the  journey,  the  date  of  his  departure  from 
Rome  can  be  fixed  as  not  later  than  the  9th.  He  probably  set  out 
during  that  interval  of  comparative  tranquillity '  which  preceded  the 
outbreak  against  the  conspirators  and  their  friends  instigated  by  the 
Pseudo-Marius.  The  fact  that  Decimus  had  reached  his  province 
and  his  legions  seems- to  have  aroused  unreasonable  hopes  in  the 
breast  of  Cicero.*  In  a  letter  written  about  two  months  later,  Cicero 
tells  us  that  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cassius  found  fault  with  Decimus 
for  the  opportunities  he  had  lost.**  The  republicans  in  Italy  probably 
wished  Decimus  to  march  toward  Rome  with  his  army,  check 
Antonius'  usurpations,  and  secure  their  own  safety.  But  as  Gardt- 
hausen '  has  pointed  out,  such  a  step  would  have  been,  not  only 
illegal,  but  also  impracticable.  Decimus  was  in  favor  of  civil  war 
only  as  a  last  resort — in  self-defense.''  Then,  too,  his  military 
strength  was  not  sufficient  to  cope  with  that  of  Antonius.  He  had 
but  two  legions,®  and  only  one  of  these  was  made  up  of  veterans.* 

*  The  news  of  this  reached  Rome  on  the  19th  (Att.  ziv.  13.  i,  a). 
■  App.  iii.  49. 

*  Alt.  xiv.  2.  I,  written  on  the  8th  and  referring  to  conditions  in  the  city  on  the  7th.  Everything  was 
quiet  in  the  dty  on  the  8th  also,  as  we  learn  from  Att.  xiv.  3.  i :  TranquiUae  tuae  quidtm  litterae.     But  on 

the  9th  (Att.  xiv.  4.  i,  written  on  the  loth)  trouble  seems  to  be  brewing  again  (TumetU  negotia Hor- 

ribile  est  quae  loquantur,  quae  minitentur).  By  the  nth  it  had  assumed  serious  proportions  (AU.  xiv.  5. 
1,6.  I,  7.  i).  But  on  thei3th  probably  (not  later),  as  we  learn  from  Att.  xiv.  8.  i  (April  15),  the  uprising 
was  crushed  by  the  summary  execution  of  the  Pseudo-Marius  (P^  Mario  probe,  etsi  doleoL.  Crassinepotem). 
For  an  extended  account  of  the  Pseudo-Marius  vide  Nic.  Dam.  14;  App.  iii.  a.  3. 

*  Att.  xiv.  13.  a:  in  quo  spem  maxintam  video.     App.  iii.  6. 

s  Att.  XV.  II.  2  Qune  8):  amissas  occasiones  Decimumque  graviter  accusabaut. 

*  Augustus  u.  seine  Zeit,  I,  p.  59.  » Fam.  ii.  i.  3. 

*  Nic.  Dam.  28;  Appian  (iii.  6)  says  that  he  had  three  legions,  but  this  statement  refers  to  a  later 
time  as  is  shown  in  iii.  49,  where  Appian  informs  us  that  one  of  these  l^ons  had  been  recently  levied  after 
Dedmus'  arrival  in  Cisalpine  Gaul. 

*  Fam.  X.  24.  3. 

71 


72 


DECmUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


He  probably  did  not  obtain  an  enthusiastic  reception  in  his  new 
province— a  province  that  had  especial  reasons  for  being  attached  to 
Caesar.  It  doubtless  required  no  little  time  and  tact  on  the  part  of 
Decimus  to  make  sure  of  the  loyalty  to  himself  of  these  two  legions 
which  had  been  in  the  pay  of  Caesar. 

That  which  suggested  the  complaint  of  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius  against  the  inactivity  of  Decimus  was  probably  the  transfer  of 
Cisalpine   Gaul  from  Decimus  to  Antonius   by  the  so-called  lex 
Antonia  Cornelia  de  permutatione  provinciarum.^^    We  have  already 
seen   that  Antonius   immediately  after  the   death   of   Caesar  had 
expressed  his  unwillingness   that  Decimus   should  have  Cisalpine 
Gaul."    Toward  the  latter  part  of  April  the  report  was  current  in 
Rome  that  on  June  i  Antonius  would  lay  a  motion  before  the  senate 
in  regard  to  the  provinces,  to  the  effect  that  he  himself  should  have 
the  Gauls,  and  that  the  tenure  of  himself  and  Dolabella  should  be 
extended.^2    About  a  month  later  Cicero  writes,  with  reference  to 
this  rumor,  that  Antonius  will  disregard  the  senate  on  June  i  and 
effect  his  objects  through  the  agency  of  a  popular  assembly.     He 
thinks  that  war  is  in  prospect,  if  an  effort  be  made  to  deprive  Deci- 
mus  Brutus   of  his   province."     About   the   first   of  June   a   lex 
tribunicia  giving  Antonius  and  Dolabella  the  pro-consular  imperium 
for  six  years  was  passed  contra  auspicia  and  without  the  formal  pro- 
mulgatio  trinum  nundinum.^*    Most  authorities  "  have  put  the  lex 
de  permutatione  provinciarum  somewhat  later  than  the  lex  tribunicia 
above  mentioned.    But  Schmidt  has  shown  by  citations  from  Appian, 
Nicolaus,  and  Cassius  Dio  that  the  lex  de  permutatione  contained  a 
provision  conferring  the  command  of  the  Macedonian  legions  upon 
Antonius."    Already  in  the  latter  part  of  June  and  the  eariy  part  of 
July  there  were  persistent  rumors  of  the  arrival  of  these  legions  at 
Brundisium."     These  rumors  arose  as  a  result  of  the  passage  of 
the  lex  de  permutatione  provinciarum.    Hence  it  is  safe  to  place  that 
law  in  the  eariy  part  of  June  and  to  connect  it  with  the  lex  tribunicia 

»  Liv.  EfiU.  117.  "  Fam.  xi.  i.  ,.  »  Att.  xiv.  14.  4.  «*  Att.  xv.  4.  1.  5.  3,  .0.  ,. 

T^^  vln^*^'  !;  ^*  'J  t'  ^*  1°*'  '?•  ''°''  ^  '^***  '^-  ^"-  ""■  "•  ^  (J"°«  8>'  «  ''hich  Cicero  says  that 
D<rfabeUa,  on  the  3d.  had  chosen  him  Ugatus  for  a  period  of  five  years.  DoUbeUa  chose  Cicero  Ugatus 
underthe  Ux  tnbuntcia.  Therefore  that  Ux  was  passed  not  later  than  the  3d.  That  the  imperium  of 
Dolabella  and  Antomus  was  to  begin  in  44  has  been  established  by  Schwartz  (Hermes,  ,898,  pp.  188.  189). 
.s  Lange  (III,  pp.  502,503)  and  Schmidt  (Die  kMem  Kimpfe,  p.  718)  put  it  between  the  Ides  of  June 
and  July  i;  Groebe,  after  June  15. 

»*  Cf.  Schmidt,  loc.  cU.,  pp.  717  f.,  and  App.  iii.  55;  Nic.  Dam.  30;  Dio  xlvi.  33.  4.  24.  2.  25.  2-  xlr 
as-  i;  xlv.  ao.  3,  4.    Cf.  also  Groebe,  De  kgibus  anni  710,  pp.  n  f. 
«» AU.  XV.  ai.  3  Quae  ai);  xvi.  5.  3  Quly  9),  4.  4;  etc. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


73 


de  provinciis  consularibus.  It  gave  Antonius  both  Gauls  (excluding 
Narbonensis,  then  governed  by  Plancus)  "  for  six  years,  including 
the  year  44.i»  The  patrons  of  this  law  were  Antonius  and  Dola- 
bella,2o  and  Livy  informs  us  that  its  adoption  was  secured  by 
violence.  ^^ 

The  Macedonian  legions  thus  given  to  Antonius  were  not  brought 
to  Italy  until  the  middle  of  October,  as  Schmidt  and  Schwartz  have 
shown."  Three  of  them  marched  along  the  Adriatic  coast  toward 
Gaul ;  2»  one  probably  proceeded  with  Antonius  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Rome  and  thence  to  the  north ;  and  the  fifth,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  L.  Antonius,  did  not  reach  Cisalpine  Gaul  until  after  the 
siege  of  Mutina  had  begun.^* 

The   only   information   we   get  concerning   the   movements   of 
Decimus  Brutus  from  his  arrival  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  in  April,  until 
September  is  derived  from  a  letter  2«  of  his  to  Cicero,  the  dkte  of 
which  cannot  be  precisely  determined,  but  must  in  all  probability 
fall  in  the  month  of  September.^*    Decimus,  as  we  learn  from  this 
letter,  spent  the  intervening  months  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  loyalty 
of  his  troops.    For  this  purpose  he  had  conducted  a  summer  cam- 
paign against  the   Inalpini  who  lived   in   modem   Piedmont  and 
Savoy.     His  efforts  had  been  crowned  with  success.     The  soldiers 
had  learned  to  appreciate  his  liberality  in  the  distribution  of  booty 
and  his  courage.     In  the  war  with  these  intrepid  people  he  had 
captured  many  villages  and  destroyed  many.    His  soldiers  had  given 
him  the  customary  recognition  of  his  success  by  saluting  him  as 
Imperator.     He  had  sent  dispatches  to  the  senate  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  its  confirmation  of  his  title  and  possibly  the  additional 
honor  of  a  supplicatio.    He  asks  Cicero's  support  in  the  senate  on 
the  ground  that,  if  he  secures  this  mark  of  recc^nition  from  that 
body,  he  will  be  stronger  in  his  province  and  with  his  troops,  and 
thus  be  of  greater  service  to  the  party  of  the  liberatores, 

«•  PW.  L  8;  vii.  a;  viu.  27. 

*•       !u  ^" 'i^'*'*^'*  °^  *^'  ''*  ^"'^  '^  provinciis  of  46.  in  that  it  gave  the  consuls  provinces  for  a  longer 
time  than  two  years. 

•»  Phti.  iii.  9;  i.  25,  «6.  ..  Liv.  EpU.  117.     Cf.  PhU.  u.  6;  i.  as. 

••  Schmidt,  loc.  cU.,  pp.  720.  7ai;  Schwartz,  loc.  cit.,  p.  190;  cf.  Fam.  xii.  23.  a;  AU.  xv  i,  2 

•i  Att.  xvi.  8.  a.  * 

M  PhU.  iii.  31.;  App.  iii.  45,  46;  and  infra,  p.  84,  n.  51.  .s  Pam.  ri.  4. 

••  Cf .  Nake,  Der  Brirfwechsel  zvnschen  Cicero  u.  Decimus  Brutus,  p.  5;  Stemkopf  Philologus  LX 
W>.  303.  304.  The  determining  points  are:  (i)  Decimus  writes  whUe  Cicero  is  stiU  in  Rome  (Ciceri  left 
Rome  between  the  9th  and  20th  of  October  Fa«.  xii.  23.  a  and  4«.  xv.  X3.  i).  (2)  Cicero  answers  ^ 
ram.  a.  0.  i  before  he  leaves  the  city. 


74 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


The  reply  to  this  letter  of  Decimus  is,  as  Stemkopf  has  shown, 
found  in  Ad  jam.  xi.  6,  paragraph  i,"  xi.  6  being  made  up  of  two 
distinct  letters.  Cicero's  letter,  like  that  of  Decimus,  is  very  brief. 
Its  tone  of  polite  formality  is  such  as  Cicero  would  naturally  use 
toward  one  who  had  not  been  among  his  intimate  friends.**  He 
did  not  give  Decimus  any  assurance  that  he  would  do  the  definite 
thing  requested  of  him,  for  the  reason  that  at  this  time  he  had  not 
the  privilege  of  free  expression  in  the  senate,  as  he  informs  us  in  a 
similar  letter  "  to  Plancus  written  about  the  same  time.  He  prob- 
ably expected  Lupus  to  explain  to  Decimus  the  exact  situation  at 
Rome. 

Decimus  Brutus,  as  we  learn  from  this  letter,  was  already  in 
September  encamped  at  Mutina,  and  Appian's  statement^®  that  he 
was  still  in  the  open  country  when  Antonius  entered  Cisalpine 
Gaul — ^a  statement  absurd  on  its  face — is  shown  to  be  false. 

After  Antonius  left  Rome,  October  9,"  to  meet  the  Macedonian 
legions  at  Brundisium,  his  friends  accused  and  caused  to  be  con- 
demned a  slave  named  Myrtilus  for  attempting  the  life  of  the  consul. 
They  alleged  that  Myrtilus  had  been  prompted  by  a  bribe  from  Deci- 
mus Brutus.®-  Antonius  himself  was  probably  responsible  for  this 
false  charge  against  Decimus,  his  object  being  to  make  him  unpopu- 
lar with  the  people  and  thereby  lessen  the  odium  that  would  attend 
his  own  projected  invasion  of  Cisalpine  Gaul. 

During  the  absence  of  Antonius,  Octavianus  had  been  busy  col- 
lecting,  by   means   of   large   donations,   an   army   of   veterans   in 

»»  Sternkopf  (PhiMogus,  LX,  pp.  a8a  ff.)  by  a  convincing  argument  shows  that  the  course  of  the 
first  correspondence  between  Cicero  and  Decimus  is  as  follows: 

Bruttis  writes  F.  xi.  4,  request  for  supplicatio — September. 

Lupus  brings  thw  letter  in  six  dasrs  from  Mutina  to  Rome — September. 

Cicero  answers  in  xi.  6a — September  or  beginning  of  October. 

Cicero  leaves  Rome — middle  of  October. 

Lupus  comes  to  Rome  with  a  new  letter  of  Brutus,  not  preserved — November. 

He  sends  this  letter  to  Cicero,  who  is  out  of  the  dty,  and  a  few  days  after  returns  to  Brutus  without 
an  answer. 

Cicero  returns  to  Rome — December  9. 

Cicero  writes  xi.  5,  probably  at  once — December  q. 

Lupus  cdknes  again  to  Rome  and  confers  with  Cicero.     Cicero  writes  xi.  7 — middle  of  December 

(la?). 

A  courier  tuings  the  edict  of  Brutus;  meeting  of  the  senate;  Cicero  writes  xi.  66 — December  20. 

Vide  also  Stemkopf 's  article  in  Hermes,  XL  (1905).  PP-  5ao  ff- 

**  Cf.  App.,  iii.  6a:  km  Am^ov  ILcuiaa^  y^kv  ovra.  ^t'Aov  iitxvtK;  which,  however,  is  probably  an 
exaggeration  of  Appian. 

»•  Fam.  X.  2.  I.  »•  Fam.  xiii.  23.  a. 

»•  App.  iii.  49.  »•  AU.  XV.  13.  6,  xvi.  11.  6. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


75 


Campania.''     He  had  even  sent  his  emissaries  to  anticipate  the 
arrival  of  Antonius  at  Brundisium,  and  win  over  the  Macedonian 
legions  with  money  and  liberal  promises,  as  well  as  by  means  of 
circulars   derogatory   to   the   consul.'*     These   measures   had   the 
desired  result,  and  the  disaffection  toward  Antonius  was  increased 
by  his  own  niggardliness  and  brutal  acts  of  discipline."'    Octavianus 
placed  himself  under  the  guidance  of  Cicero  and  professed  a  desire 
to  conduct  his  opposition  to  Antonius  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the 
senate.'®     He   was   writing   frequent   letters   to   Cicero,'^   he   had 
demanded  a  secret  conference  with  him,'«  and  had  sent  a  special 
messenger  to  ask  him  whether  he  should  proceed  to  Rome  with  his 
three  thousand  veterans,  or  should  hold  Capua  and  block  the  way 
of  Antonius  who  was  marching  toward  Rome  with  the  legia  Alauda^ 
rum,  or  should  go  to  meet  the  three  Macedonian  legions  which  were 
advancing  along  the  Adriatic  Sea  toward  Cisalpine  Gaul.     Cicero 
urged   him   to  proceed   to  Rome.     He   was   of   the   opinion   that 
Octavianus,  if  he  created  confidence,  would  have  the  support  of 
the  Optimate  party,'®  and,  if  his  forces  were  strong,  he  could  have 
(Decimus)  Brutus  on  his  side.*'    Octavianus  acted  on  the  advice  of 
Cicero;  proceeded  to  Rome;  addressed  an  assembly  of  the  people 
before  the  Temple  of  Castor*^  and  Pollux;  and  reminded  them  of 
Caesar  and  of  the  wrongs  he  himself  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of 
Antonius,  on  account  of  which  he  had  collected  the  force  of  veterans 
as  a  guard.    He  also  declared  his  readiness  in  everything  to  serve 
and  obey  his  country.    Some  of  the  veterans,  learning  his  intention 
against  Antonius,  changed  their  minds  and  under  various  pretexts 
returned  to  their  homes.    Octavianus  proceeded  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Ravenna,  where  he  enlisted  many  new  recruits  and  established 
his  headquarters  at  Arretium.** 

About  the  middle  of  November  Antonius  returned  to  Rome, 
leaving  the  main  body  of  his  troops  at  Tibur,  but  bringing  a  con- 

"  AU.  xvi.  8.  I,  a.  (par.  i  quingenos  denarics  dot);  Att.  xvi.  11.  6.;  Res  gestae  Dhn  Augusti  i  i  Liv 
Epit.  117;  Dio.  xlv.  I  a.  a. 

»«  App.  iii.  43,  44;  Dio  xlv.  la.  i. 

"  PhU.  iii.  4,  V.  aa.  iii.  10,  30,  xii.  la,  xiii.  18;    App.  ui.  43;  of.  AU.  xvi.  8.  a;  Dio  xlv.  13.  i,  3;  3s.  3. 

»*>!«.  xvi.  9.  "Xtf.  xvi.  8.  1,0.  I,  11,6. 

»»w4tf.  xvi.  8.  I.  S9AU.  xvi.  8.  a.  *o  AU.  xvi.  9. 

♦«  In  AU.  xvi.  15.  3,  Cicero  writes  of  this  contio.  He  does  not  like  the  speech  of  Octavianus  and  is 
not  ready  to  declare  himself  for  him  till  he  learns  his  attitude  toward  Casca's  candidacy  for  the  tribunate 
Casca  was  one  of  the  slayers  of  Caesar. 

«» App.  iii.  41.  4a;  Dio.  xlv.  la.  4  ff.  For  Octavianus*  professed  desire  to  obey  the  senate  vid. 
App.  iii.  48. 


76 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  ^RUTUS  ALBINUS 


siderable  number  into  the  city  to  serve  as  his  personal  guard  and 
to  overawe  the  senate  and  the  people.*'  He  ordered  a  meeting  of 
the  senate  for  November  24,  to  lay  before  that  body  the  conduct  of 
Octavianus,  but  he  himself  failed  to  attend  and  adjourned  the  sitting 
until  November  28.**  Meantime  to  Tibur,  whither  he  had  returned, 
a  number  of  knights,  senators,  and  plebeians  repaired  and  swore  to 
be  loyal  to  him.**  On  November  28  Antonius  was  again  in  Rome, 
having  called  a  meeting  of  the  senate  for  that  day  on  the  Capitol.*' 
He  had  prepared  a  motion  to  restrain  Octavianus,*^  but  it  seems  that 
he  did  not  lay  it  before  the  house.  While  the  senate  was  in  session 
he  received  news  that  the  fourth  legion,  under  the  quaestor,  L. 
Egnatuleius,  had  deserted  his  standard.  The  Martian  legion,  under 
D.  Carfulenus,  had  already  abandoned  him,  turned  from  its  north- 
ward march  along  the  east  coast  toward  the  west,  and  encamped  at 
Alba  near  Rome  ready  to  unite  with  Octavianus.  The  fourth  legion 
had  now  joined  the  Martian  at  Alba.*®  At  the  news  of  this,  Antonius 
hastily  caused  the  praetorian  provinces  not  yet  assigned  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  lot,*»  left  the  city  by  night  for  Tibur,  and  hurried 
thence  with  his  "mutilated  army"  to  Cisalpine  Gaul.'^®  At 
Ariminum  he  could  still  count  on  four  veteran  legions,  the  legio 
Alaudarum,  two  Macedonian  legions  (II  and  XXXV),  and  another 
Macedonian  legion,  which,  under  the  leadership  of  Lucius  Antonius, 
was  on  its  way  to  join  him.*^^  In  addition  to  these,  he  had  his 
bodyguard,  auxiliary  troops,  and  recruits.''^ 

Decimus  Brutus  meantime  had  received  letters  from  members 
of  the  senate  urging  him  to  keep  a  strong  hold  on  his  province,  and  to 
collect  additional  men  and  money  to  resist  Antonius.**'  To  this  effect 
Cicero  wrote  on  his  return  to  Rome,  December  9."*  In  this  letter 
written  in  reply  to  one  from  Decimus,  now  lost,  which  he  had 
received  while  absent  from  Rome,  Cicero  says:     Si  enim  iste  pro- 

«  App.  iii.  45,  50,  5a;  Phil.  xiii.  19.  ♦•  Phil.  iii.  ig,  ao,  ai. 

♦»  App.  iii.  46;  PhU.  xiii.  19:  Rediit  ai  milUes;  ibi  pesti/era  ilia  Tiburi  contio;  Dio  xlv.  13.  5. 

*'  PhU.  iii.  ao;  quod  in  teniplum  ipse  nescio  qua  per  Gallorum  cuniculum  ascendit. 

*»  Phil.  xiii.  19:  parata  de  circumscribendo  adulescente  setUentia  consularis. 

«•  PhU.  xiii.  19;  iii.  7;  Dio  xlv.  13.  3,  4. 

**PhU.  iii.  a4.  »•  Non.  MarceU.  539.  3;  PhU.  xiii.  ao;  iii.  31. 

»»  App.  iii.  46;  PhU.  iii.  31.  Cf.  Schwartz,  p.  227,  n.  4.  What  I  have  said  above  is  in  accordance 
with  the  testimony  of  Apinan.  But  Groebe  (Drumann,  I,  pp.  434,  440)  thinks  that  one  of  the  five  Mace- 
donian legions  that  fell  to  Antonius  in  the  arrangement  between  him  and  DoUbella  was  left  in  Macedonia, 
and  that  this  legion  is  the  one  referred  to  in  Phil.  x.  13:  Legio,  quam  L.  Piso  ducebat  Ugatus  Antoni, 
Ciceroni  se  filio  meo  tradidit.    At  any  rate,  Antonius  had  in  all  six  legions  at  Mutina  {PhU.  viii.  25). 

»«  App.,  loc.  cU.  M  App.  iii.  27;  cf.  3a,  33.  i*  Fam.  xi.  5. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


77 


vinciam  nactus  erit,  cut  quidem  ego  semper  amicus  fui,  ante  quam 
ilium  intellexi  non  modo  aperte  sed  etiam  libenter  cum  re  p.  helium 
gerere,  spem  reliquam  nullam  video  salutis.^^  Cicero  also  renews 
his  assurance  that  he  will  support  in  the  senate  Decimus'  claims  to 
honor  and  distinction.*® 

Decimus  Brutus  had  not  been  idle.  After  his  campaign  with 
the  Inalpini  he  had  raised  a  legion  of  recruits,"  and  thus  shown  his 
intention  of  resisting  the  claims  of  Antonius  to  his  province."  As 
soon  as  he  learned  that  Antonius  had  left  Rome  and  was  hurrying 
with  his  army  toward  Cisalpine  Gaul,  he  probably  wrote  to  Cicero 
urging  him  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  senatus  consultum  confirming 
his  right  to  his  province  and  authorizing  him  to  hold  it  by  force  of 
arms."  It  was  to  this  letter,  now  lost,  that  Cicero  replied  in  Fam, 
xi.  7,««  written  not  later  than  December  12.  Cicero  urges  Decimus 
not  to  wait  for  the  authorization  of  the  senate  in  preserving  the 
liberty  and  safety  of  the  Roman  people— for  the  senate  is  not  yet 
free  to  deliberate.  He  entreats  Decimus  not  to  condemn  his  act  on 
the  Ides  of  March.  The  freeing  of  his  country  then  was  all  the 
more  glorious  because  it  was  done  nullo  publico  consilio.  He  cites 
the  example  of  the  young  Caesar  who  had  espoused  the  public 

"  xi.  5.  3.  »•  Fam.  xi.  s-  3-  "  App.  iii.  49;  PhU.  v.  36.  s«  Fam.  xi.  7.  3. 

w  This  seems  a  fair  inference  from  Fom.xi.  7.  a:  Caput  auUm  est  hoc  ....  ut  ne  in  libertale  et  salute 
popuh  Romant  conseruanda  auctoritattm  senatus  exspectes  nondum  liberi.  This  inference  Ls  also  supported 
by  the  testimony  of  Appian  (iii.  49):  ' f^^vtioviov  «'  aurw  irpo6ea^iav  bpiCovrot  fitB'  riv  i>s  noXcfiitf 
XPnwrai,  ^axpoTipav  o  Ae*M<K  «eAewev  opt^eii'  «avT«,  /x^  9air<rov  yei/oiTO  rj}  Povkjj  iroA«>ios;  and, 
Voluntas  senatus  pro  auctorUate  haberi  debet,  cum  auctoritas  impeditur  metu;  and  also  ita  animaius 
debes  esse,  non  ut  nihU  facias  nisi  iussus  sed,  etc.  v 

••  That  Fam.  xi.  7  was  written  before  December  20  has  been  established  both  by  Ruete  (p.  38)  and 
at  greater  length,  by  Stemkopf  (PhUologus,  LX,  pp.  282  S.).  The  considerations  presented  by  them  may 
be  briefly  sunimarized  as  follows: 

(i)  It  would  have  been  idle  for  Cicero  to  urge  Brutus  to  hold  his  province,  privato  consUio,  when 
the  latter's  edict  announcing  his  intention  to  do  that  very  thing  was  akeady  known  in  Rome. 

(2)  On  or  after  December  20,  Cicero  could  not  have  written,  Caput  autem  est  hoc  ....  ut  ne  in 
libertate  et  salute  populi  Romani  consen<anda  auctoritatem  senatus  nondum  liberi;  and  Voluntas  senatus  pro 
auctoritate  haberi,  cum  auctoritas  impeditur  metu,  and  ita  animatus  debes  esse,  non  ut  nihU  facias  nisi  iussus 

sed,  etc.;  for  afterward  Cicero  {PhU.  v.  28)  says  a.  d.  XII  Kal.  Jan quod  Ule  {D.  Brutus)  beUum 

prtvato  consUio  susceperat.  id  vos  auctoritate  publica  comprobastis.     Cf.  PhU.  iv.  8. 

(3)  Again,  the  expression  nondum  liber  applied  to  the  senate  in  this  letter  was  no  longer  true  on 
December  20,  as  we  learn  from  Fam.  x.  28.  i :  Ut  enim  primum  post  Antoni  foedissimum  discessum  senatus 
haberi  libere  potuit,  and  from  PhU.  iii.  5  (spoken  December  20)  nunc  enim  primum  ita  convenimus,  ut 
Ultus  {Octainani)  beneficio  possemus  ea,  quae  sentiremus,  libere  dicere.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  could  this 
letter  have  been  written  on  the  19th,  as  T>TeU  and  Purser  think.  For,  if  we  assume,  as  T.  and  P.  do, 
that  Fam.  xi.  6.  i  (which,  following  Stemkopf,  I  think  is  a  separate  letter  by  itself)  were  written  Decem- 
ber ao,  it  is  inconceivable  that  Cicero  should  have  had  a  conference  with  Lupus  and  others  at  hLs  house  on 
the  morning  after  the  arrival  of  Lupus,  and  should  have  written  Decimus  about  that  conference,  mention- 
ing the  fact  that  it  had  been  caUed  at  the  instance  of  Lupus,  and  then  in  a  subsequent  letter  to  Decimus 
{Fam.  xi.  6.  i),  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day.  should  have  taken  pains  to  announce  the  arrival  of 
Lupus  in  Rome.    Hence  Fam.  xi.  7  was  probably  written  several  days  before  December  20. 


78 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


cause  privato  consilio,  and  of  the  legions  that  had  revolted  from 
the  consul  and  by  their  act  declared  him  a  public  enemy.  He  should 
accept  the  will  of  the  senate  as  authorization  so  long  as  fear  kept  it 
from  declaring  itself.  Finally,  he  had  twice  committed  himself, 
first  on  the  Ides  of  March  and  again,  recently,  by  the  raising  of  a 
new  army  and  new  forces.  He  should  do  that  which  he  knew  would 
be  approved  and  not  wait  for  the  senate's  bidding. 

When  Cicero  wrote  this  spirited  letter  he  probably  had  in 
mind  Brutus'  conservatism  and  his  regard  for  constitutional  forms 
—respect  for  which,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  had  drawn  him 
into  the  plot  against  Caesar,  and  now  justified  him  in  resisting 
Antonius.  For  the  plehiscitum  and  the  lex  of  June  which  had 
been  voted  per  vim  in  favor  of  Antonius  and  Dolabella,  whereby 
Antonius  obtained  the  imperium  in  the  Gauls,  and  Dolabella  in 
Syria,  for  six  years  beginning  with  44,  while  they  did  not  abrogate 
the  lex  Antonia  de  actis  Caesaris,  yet  violated  it,  and  therefore 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  that  culminated  in  the  bloody 
Second  Triumvirate.  Accordingly,  when  Decimus  Brutus  refused 
to  recognize  the  imperium  maius  of  Antonius  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  it 
was,  strictly  speaking,  a  counter-revolutionary  movement  and  not, 
as  Scharwtz"  maintains,  the  continuation  of  the  revolution  inau- 
gurated by  the  young  Caesar. 

Antonius  probably  on  his  arrival  at  Ariminum  demanded  of 
Decimus  the  surrender  of  his  province."  Decimus  refused  and 
issued  an  edict  saying,  se  provinciam  retenturum  in  senatus  popu- 
lique  Romani  potestate^*  The  date  of  this  edict  was  probably 
December  15,  since  it  was  published  in  Rome  on  the  morning  of  the 
20th.«*  For  that  day  the  tribunes  had  called  a  meeting  of  the  senate 
to  propose  measures  for  the  safety  of  the  consuls-elect  and  of  the 
senate  on  January  i."  Cicero  had  determined  not  to  be  present  at 
the  sitting,  but,  when  he  heard  of  the  bold  stand  Decimus  had  taken, 
he  resolved  not  to  miss  the  opportunity  of  urging  the  senate  to  place 

•«  Hermes.  i8g8,  p.  104.  n.  5.  Schwartz  sa3fs:  "Sdn  einziges  ArRumem  is»,  daas  das  Gesrtz  und  das 
Plebisat,  auf  welchen  ea  beruht.  gegen  das  S.C.Qber  die  acta  Caesaris  verstiessen  und  per  vim  rogirt  seien/ 
Schwarts  seems  to  have  overlooked  or  disregarded  the  Ux  de  actis  Caesaris  confirmandis,  expressly  men- 
tkmed  by  Qcero  (Phil.  v.  10). 

••  App.  iii.  40.  That  Antonius  bade  Decimus  to  go  to  Macedonia,  as  Appian  says.  is.  of  course. 
Use 

•«  PhU.  iii.  8.  It  is  impossible  to  say  whether  or  not  Cicero's  letter  ad  Pam.  zi.  7  had  reached  Ded- 
mus  before  he  issued  his  edict. 


**Pam.  xi.  6.  a;  cf.  Pam.  jd.  6.  i. 


**Pam.  xi.  6.  a;  PkU.  iu.  13,  as. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


79 


the  stamp  of  approval  upon  it.  A  full  senate  assembled  when  it 
became  known  that  Cicero  had  gone  to  the  curia.**  The  orator 
delivered  his  third  Philippic,  in  which  he  justified  the  conduct  of 
the  two  legions  which  had  deserted  Antotjius,  and  the  action  of 
Octavianus  and  Decimus  Brutus,  by  the  argument  that  Antonius 
was  virtually  no  longer  consul.®^  The  senate  adopted  all  of  the 
motions  that  Cicero  advocated.*®  These  were :  ( i )  That  the  consuls- 
elect  should  provide  that  the  senate  might  convene  in  safety  on 
January  i.  (2)  That  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  senate  that  Decimus 
Brutus  by  his  edict  deserved  well  of  the  state,  since  he  was  defend- 
ing the  authority  of  the  senate  and  the  liberty  and  majesty  of  the 
Roman  people.**  (3)  That,  in  keeping  the  province  of  Gallia 
Citerior  and  its  army  under  the  control  of  the  senate,  Decimus 
Brutus,  his  army,  the  municipia,  and  the  colonies  of  the  province  of 
Gaul  had  acted  and  were  acting  properly,  regularly,  and  in  accord- 
and  with  the  welfare  of  the  state.^®  (4)  That  it  was  the  decision 
of  the  senate  that  Decimus  Brutus,  Lucius  Plancus,  and  others  who 
held  provinces  should  retain  them,  in  accordance  with  the  lex  lulia, 
until  by  a  senatus  consultum  their  successors  should  be  appointed, 
and  that  they  should  see  to  it  that  those  provinces  and  their  armies 
continued  to  obey  the  senate  and  Roman  people  and  to  defend  the 
republic.^*  (5)  That  the  consuls-elect  should  as  soon  as  possible  lay 
before  the  senate  the  matter  of  honors  and  rewards  for  C.  Caesar, 
the  legio  Martia,  and  the  legio  IV,  because  of  their  services  to  the 
commonwealth.''* 

After  the  meeting  of  the  senate  Cicero  delivered  to  a  large 
assembly  of  the  people  an  impassioned  speech  (the  fourth  Philippic), 
in  which  he  declared  that,  while  Antonius  had  not  been  designated 
by  the  senate  a  public  enemy  in  word,  he  had  already  been  so 
adjudged  in  fact.'"  After  this  contio,  late  in  the  day,  probably, 
Cicero  wrote  to  Decimus,  paragraphs  2  and  3  of  Fam.  xi.  6,  in 
which  he  speaks  of  Decimus'  edict  and  of  his  godlike  services  to  the 
state,  of  the  meeting  of  the  senate  and  the  contio,  and  at  the 
end  he  gives  Decimus  assurance  of  zealous  support  in  all  things  that 
pertain  to  his  ofiicial  position. 


**  Pam.  xi.  6.  a,  3;  xii.  ai.  3. 

•»  Phil.  iii.  6.  la.  14. 

**  Stemkopf,  pp.  284  ff.;  Phil.  iii.  37  ff. 

♦•  PhU.  iv.  8,  V.  a8. 


»•  Phil.  iv.  9;  V.  a8;  x.  23. 
»'  Fam.  xii.  2a.  3;  xii.  25.  2. 
»•  Phil.  iv.  a-6,  3,  4.  a8;  x.  a3. 
»*  Pkti.  iv.  I. 


8o 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


We  have  already  noted  the  arrival  of  Decimus  at  Mutina.  On 
learning  of  the  approach  of  Antonius,  he  hastily  collected  supplies, 
slaughtered  and  salted  cattle,  and  closed  the  gates  of  the  town,  antici*^ 
pating  a  protracted  siege.  With  his  force  of  three  legions  (only 
one  of  which  had  seen  much  service)  and  a  handful  of  gladiators 
he  did  not  venture  to  meet  Antonius  in  the  open  field.^*  Besides, 
he  probably  preferred  to  have  Antonius  assume  the  offensive,  so 
that  it  might  be  made  clear  that  he  was  defending  his  province 
against  the  consul  who  was  seeking  unlawfully  to  wrest  it  from 
him.  Antonius  probably  appeared  before  the  walls  of  the  city 
about  December  20,  and  began  the  construction  of  a  moat  and  trench 
around  the  place.^* 

A  meeting  of  the  senate  was  held  on  January  i  under  the  new 
consuls,  Aulus  Hirtius  and  Gaius  Vibius  Pansa.     The  consuls  laid 
before  the  senate  the  state  of  the  republic  and  the  matter  of  granting 
rewards   to  the   young  Caesar  and   to  the   two  legions   that  had 
deserted  Antonius.*^*     Other  consulares  were  called  upon  for  their 
opinion  before  Cicero."     Servius  Sulpicius  Rufus,  the  first,  pro- 
posed that  commissioners  be  sent  to  Antonius  to  bring  about  peace 
if  possible,  between  him  and  the  senate.^*    Cicero  in  his  fifth  Philip- 
pic opposed  the  motion  of  Sulpicius,  and  after  a  bitter  invective 
against   Antonius   moved:      (i)    That   a   tumultus  be   decreed,   a 
iustitium  proclaimed,  the  saga  be  put  on,  and  that  exemption  from 
service  be  removed  and  levies  be  held  in  all  Italy  except  Gaul.  (2) 
That  the  senatus  consultum  ultimum  be  adopted,'*  and  that  it  be 
decreed  that  those  who  were  in  the  army  of  Antonius,  if  they  left  it 
before  February  i,  should  be  pardoned.     (3)  That  Decimus  Brutus 
be  praised  for  retaining  the  province  of  Gaul  in  obedience  to  the 
senate  and  Roman  people,  and  for  having  raised  so  large  an  army 
with  the  aid  of  the  municipia  and  the  colonies  of  Gaul.«®     (4)  That 
the  senate  and  people  express  their  confidence  in  M.  Lepidus  for 
his  loyal  services  to  the  state,  and  that  a  gilded  equestrian  statue 
be  erected  to  him  on  the  rostra,  or  wherever  else  in  the  Forum  he 
might  wish  it."     (5)  That  Gaius  Caesar  be  given  the  rank  of  a 

»*  App.  B.  C.  iii.  40. 

"  PkU.  V.  24.    Antonius  had  not  reached  Mutina  on  the  15th.  and  the  news  of  his  ha>-ing  laid  Mege 
to  the  place  was  in  Rome  before  January  1,  43.     App.  iii.  49. 
»*  Lange,  iii.  p.  520;  PkU.  v.  »8. 

"  PkU.  V.  s;  Lange  (III,  p.  522)  names  Q.  Fufius  Calenus.  P.  ServiHus  Isauricus.  and  Servius  Sul- 
piaus  Rufus. 

»•  PhU.  V.  i;  ix.  4.  9.  »•  Pka.  V.  31,  34.  ••  PhU.  V.  36.  •«  PkU.  ▼.  40.  41. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


81 


propraetor,  that  he  be  voted  into  the  senate  inter  praetorios,  and 
that  as  a  candidate  for  the  magistracy  he  should  be  in  the  position 
of  those  who  had  held  the  quaestorship  for  the  previous  year  (44).** 
(6)  That  L.  Egnatuleius,  the  commander  of  the  legio  IV,  be  allowed 
to  sue  for,  take,  and  hold  the  magistracies  three  years  before  the 
legal  time ;  *'  that  lands  be  granted  to  the  veterans  who  had  deserted 
Antonius ;  that  exemption  from  military  service,  except  in  case  of  a 
Gallic  or  Italian  tumultus,  be  voted  to  them  and  their  children; 
and  that  the  two  legions  which  had  deserted  Antonius  be  given  their 
discharge  at  the  end  of  the  war  and  be  paid  the  money  promised 
them  b}  C.  Caesar.®* 

All  these  motions,  save  the  first  two,  in  regard  to  the  tumultus 
and  the  senatus  consultum  ultimum,  were  adopted  on  January  3.  The 
one  in  regard  to  the  young  Caesar,  however,  was  modified  so  that  he 
was  given  the  privilege  of  expressing  his  opinion  in  the  senate 
among  the  consular es.^^  To  the  other  honors  voted  him  were 
added,  on  the  motion  of  his  stepfather,  L.  Marcius  Philippus,  an 
equestrian  statue.**  On  the  4th,*'  owing  to  the  influence  of  the 
friends  and  relatives  of  Antonius  and  the  consulares  other  than 
Cicero,  the  senate,  against  the  latter's  earnest  protest,  voted  to 
send  ambassadors  to  Antonius  with  instructions  that  he  should 
abstain  from  attacking  the  consul  designate,  from  besieging  Mutina, 
from  devastating  the  province,  and  from  holding  levies,  and  that  he 
should  submit  to  the  senate  and  people.®®  The  senate  further 
demanded  that  he  should  withdraw  with  his  army  from  Cisalpine 
Gaul  across  the  Rubicon,  but  that  he  should  not  bring  it  within  two 
hundred  Roman  miles  of  the  city.®*  The  ambassadors  were 
instructed  to  proceed  to  Decimus  Brutus  and  his  soldiers,  and  assure 
them  that  their  services  were  appreciated  and  would  be  rewarded 
by  the  senate  and  the  people.*®  It  was  decreed  that,  if  Antonius 
did  not  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  ambassadors,  the  saga  would 
be  assumed,  and  it  would  be  considered  that  Antonius  had  declared 

•»  PkU.  V.  46.  »3  PkU.  V.  52.  84  PhU.  V.  S3. 

•s  PkU.  vii.  10,  II,  I4-,  xi.  ao;  Res  gestae  i.  U.  3-5,  and  p.  3  (Mommsen);  Dio  xlvi.  29.  a,  3;  Veil, 
ii.  61.  3;  Ad  Brut.  i.  15.  7. 

•*  i4(/  Brut.,  loc.  cU.\  Dio  xlvi.  39.  2;  App.  iii.  51,  66. 

*i  PkU.  vi.  3.  On  the  first  three  days  of  January  the  senate  sided  with  Cicero  against  the  proposition 
to  send  ambassadors  {PkU.  vii.  14).  But  the  tribune,  Salvius,  according  to  Appnan  adjourned  the  debate 
on  the  question  whether  an  ambassador  should  be  sent  or  a  tumultus  declared. 

••  PkU.  vi.  4.  »»  PkU.  vi.  s.  ••  PkU.  vi.  6. 


\ 


82 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


war  upon  the  Roman  people."  It  was  also  voted  that,  in  the  mean- 
time, the  consuls,  one  or  both,  should  depart  for  the  seat  of  trouble,  that 
levies  be  held  throughout  Italy,  that  exemptions  be  withdrawn,'  and 
that  all  preparations  be  made  for  war."-  At  this  meeting  of  the 
senate,  too,  on  the  motion  of  Lucius  Caesar,  the  lex  agraria  of 
Lucius  Antonius,  which  had  been  passed  in  June  to  win  over  the 
veterans  to  his  brother,  the  consul,  was  repealed." 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Cicero  delivered  to  the  people 
his  sixth  Philippic,  in  which  he  criticized  the  lukewarm  conduct  of 
the  senate  in  sending  ambassadors  to  a  "gladiator,"  •*  assured  his 
hearers  that  Antonius  would  never  obey  its  commands,'"*  and  urged 
upon  them  the  necessity  of  aiding  Decimus  Brutus,  of  collecting 
troops  everywhere,  and  of  avoiding  the  crime  of  delay.»«  Cicero 
consoled  himself,  however,  with  the  reflection  that  the  legati  would 
return  within  twenty  days,  and  then  his  opinion  would  be 
unanimously  accepted. 

The   three   consiilares  ""^   who  composed   the   embassy,    Servius 
Sulpicius  Rufus,  L.  Calpurnius  Piso,  and  L.  Marcius  Philippus," 
departed  from  Rome  on  the  morning  of  January  5.»»     Soon  after 
their  departure,  the  consul,  Hirtius,  who  was  still  physically  weak 
from  long  illness,  having  been  chosen  by  lot  to  take  command  in  the 
field,  set  out  with  a  small  troop  of  veterans  to  reinforce  Octavianus 
and  carry  relief  to  Decimus.     Pansa  remained  at  home  to  superin- 
tend the  levies.^oo    To  Octavianus  at  Spoletium  ^^  in  Umbria  the 
news  came  that  the  imperium  had  been  conferred  on  him  by  the 
senate.     He  marched  thence  to  Forum  Comelium"*  on  the  via 
Aemilia   in    Cisalpine    Gaul,    having    been    joined    by    Hirtius    at 
Ariminum.*®* 

On  January  24,  Cicero  having  been  asked  by  Paula,  the  wife  of 
Decimus    Brutus,    if   he    had    any   communication    for   the   latter 
wrote  ^«*  him  that  nothing  had  as  yet  been  heard  from  the  legati, 

•«  PhU.  vi.  0.  and  vii.  II,  36;  Fam.  xii.  24.  2.  •»  PhU.  vii.  n  ff. 

•»  Groebe's  Dnimann.  I,  Anhang,  pp.  424  f.;  PhU.  vi.  14. 
•*  Pl**i-  vi.  3.  •'  PkU.  vi.  0.  «•  pifii  ij5   , 

•JPW.  vi.  5.  07  PkU.  viii.  ,7;  xiu.  ao.  ••PhU.  ix.  9. 

«-PAi/.vii.i2;xiv.4.s.  For  the  illness  of  Hirtius  t^  Fa«.  xu.  23.  a.  The  nucleus  of  Hirtius' 
for«  was  made  up  of  veterans  who  had  deserted  from  the  second  and  thirty-fifth  Macedonian  legions. 
Phil.  v.  53;  vui.  5;  Consukm  .  ...  cum  cxercUu  misimus. 

»•'  PKn.  N.  H.  xi.  (73)  100;  C.  /.  L.,  I,  p.  383;  xii.  4333. 

«••  Fam.  xii.  s.  a;  a:  Dio  xlvi.  35.  4-7. 

»•*  Non.  230.  24  and  Groebe's  Drumann.  I,  p.  452.  im  Fam.  xi.  8. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


83 


and  that  all  were  waiting  in  suspense  for  news  from  them.  He 
told  Decimus,  however,  of  the  deep  concern  of  the  senate  and  the 
people  for  his  safety  and  honor,  of  the  wonderful  affection  for  his 
name  and  unique  love  for  himself  which  everybody  felt,  and  of 
the  confident  expectation  that  he  would  this  time  free  the  state 
from  the  kingdom  as  he  had  already  freed  it  from  the  king.  He 
added  that  a  levy  was  being  held  in  Rome  and  throughout  Italy, 
if  it  should  be  called  a  levy,  when  all  voluntarily  presented  them- 
selves. In  Philippic  vii,  delivered  toward  the  end  of  January,  we 
have  a  similar  testimony  to  the  zeal  of  the  people  in  enrolling  their 
names  for  service,  of  the  municipia  in  furnishing  men  and  pledging 
money,  and  of  individuals  in  equipping  soldiers  for  the  cause.*®* 
In  this  speech  Cicero  showed  the  dishonor,  danger,  and  the  impossi- 
bility of  peace  with  Antonius.*®*  The  people  seemed  to  realize  this, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  was  a  genuine  feeling  of  hostility 
toward  Antonius  and  a  corresponding  sympathy  for  Decimus 
Brutus. 

The  ambassadors,  whose  leader,  Servius  Sulpicius  Rufus,  had 
died  in  Antonius'  camp  before  Mutina,*®'  did  not  return  until  Feb- 
ruary i.*®8  Antonius,  instead  of  obeying  the  mandate  of  the  senate, 
made  counter-proposals  and  would  not  permit  the  legati  to  pass 
through  his  lines  to  inform  Decimus  Brutus  of  the  senate's  decree 
in  his  honor.*®*  He  showed  them  the  damage  wrought  by  his 
engines  to  the  town  and  the  extent  of  his  siege  works,  and  did  not 
suffer  his  attack  to  lag  a  moment  while  they  were  present.**®  Yet 
he  seems  to  have  been  willing  to  make  one  concession,  namely,  to 
give  up  all  claims  to  Cisalpine  Gaul.  His  demands  were:***  (i) 
that  the  senate  make  grants  of  land  to  his  soldiers,  and  that  those 
having  obtained  lands  from  him  and  Dolabella  be  permitted  to  retain 
them;  (2)  that  the  decrees  of  himself  and  his  colleague  remain  in 
force ;  (3)  that  no  account  be  taken  of  the  money  he  had  drawn  from 
the  Temple  of  Ops :  (4)  that  his  lex  iudiciaria  be  not  repealed ;  (5) 
that  Gallia  Comata,  with  the  six  legions  there  brought  up  to 
their  full  complement  by  soldiers  drawn  from  the  army  of  Deci- 
mus Brutus,  be  granted  him  for  five  years,  that  is,  until  the  end 
of  the  proconsular  imperium  of  M.   Brutus  and  Cassius.     When 

'•J  Phil.  vii.  13,  23,  24;  Dio  xlvi.  31.  4.  io6  PkU.  vii.  9.  107  PhU.  ix.  1,2. 

•••  Fam.  xii.  4.  I.     Cf.  Fam.  x.  28.  t,  2  and  Ganter,  "ChronoloKische  Untersuchungen  zu  Ciceros 
Bnefen  an  M.  Brutus  u.  Philippischen  Reden."  Jahrb.  f.  PhU.,  CXLIX,  pp.  613  ff. 

'••  ^**-  viii.  21.  «»«»  PhU.  viii.  20.  i««  PhU.  viii.  25  Jo  27. 


84 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


the  senate  met  on  February  2,"^  a  motion  to  send  other  legati  to 
Antonius  to  continue  the  negotiations  for  peace  was  lost."'  Cicero 
moved  that  a  bellum  be  decreed,  involving  as  it  did  the  declaration 
that  Antonius  was  a  hostis.  But  the  substitute  motion  of  L.  Caesar, 
that  a  tutnultus  be  voted  and  the  saga  assumed  on  the  4th,  pre- 
vailed."* It  was  also  decreed  on  February  3  "'^  on  the  motion  of 
Cicero,  that  those  soldiers  who  should  leave  Antonius  by  March  i 
should  be  pardoned.  But  if  anyone  save  L.  Varius  Cotyla  should  go 
to  Antonius,  he  should  be  considered  to  have  acted  contra  rem 
puhlicam.^^^ 

It  was  probably  on  February  2  that  the  senatus  consultum  ulti- 
mum  was  passed.*"  About  this  time  also  the  decree  commanding 
Lepidus  and  L.  Munatius  Plancus  to  march  into  Italy  to  the  aid  of 
the  consuls  and  Octavianus  was  adopted."® 

On  the  3rd  Pansa  read  in  the  senate  a  dispatch  from  his  col- 
league, Hirtius,  to  the  effect  that  the  latter  had  expelled  the  garri- 
son at  Claterna  and  occupied  the  place."'  In  a  letter  to  Cassius, 
written  soon  after  February  4,^*0  Cicero  says :  "The  decision  in  the 
whole  war  seems  to  rest  on  Decimus  Brutus,  and  if  he,  as  I  hope, 
has  broken  out  of  Mutina,  apparently  there  will  be  nothing  left  of 
the  war.  Quite  small  is  the  force  that  is  besieging  him  now,  for 
Antonius  holds  Bononia  with  a  strong  garrison.  Moreover,  Hirtius 
is  at  Claterna,"*  Caesar  near  Forum  Comelium,  both  with  reliable 
troops.  Pansa  has  collected  a  large  force  at  Rome  from  his  levy. 
Up  to  this  time  the  winter  has  prevented  action.  Hirtius,  if  we 
may  judge  from  his  frequent  letters,  will  be  careful  in  everything 
he  does.  Except  Bononia,  Regium  Lepidi,  and  Parma,  we  are  in 
control  of  all  Gaul,  which  is  thoroughly  loyal.    The  Transpadani 


isa 


"•  Phil.  viii.  1;  Phil.  viii.  was  delivered  February  3  (cf.  2.  6  and  Nonius,  p.  538);  Ganter,  p.  616. 

"»  Phil.  viii.  II,  ao.     Q.  Fufius  Calenus  was  the  author. 

"*Phil.  viu.  I,  a,  6.  "»viii.  3a.  "^  Phil.  viii.  33. 

"I  Res  gestae  1.  6.;  Dio  xlvi.  31.  a.  Mommsen,  in  his  edition  of  the  Res  gestae,  p.  4,  is  probably  in 
error  in  assuming  that  this  decree  was  a  month  earlier. 

»»•  Dio  xlvi.  2Q.  6;  Fam.  x.  33.1.  Lange  (III,  p.  536)  considers  that  this  S.  C.  was  passed  after  the 
news  of  the  battle  of  Mutina  had  reached  Rome.  But  at  this  time  Plancxis  was  already  on  his  way  to  Italy. 
Vide  Fam.  x.  9.  3;  x.  11.  a  and  lullien,  Fondaieur  de  Lyon,  p.  49. 

««•  PhU.  viii.  6. 

»••  Fam.  m..  s.     For  the  date  vide  Ganter,  Jahrb.  f.  Phil..  CXLIX,  pp.  613  If. 

<»  According  to  Appian  (iii.  65),  Hirtfus,  having  the  chief  command,  obtained  the  two  legions  that 
had  deserted  Antonius. 

"■  Cf.  PhU.  xii.  10.  Patavini  alios  exclmseruHt,  alios  eiecerutU  missos  ab  Antonio;  pecunia,  militibus, 
tt  quod  maxime  de-erat,  armis  nostras  duces  adiuverunt. 


decimus'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


8s 


too,  your  clients,  are  wonderfully  attached  to  our  cause.  The  senate 
is  most  resolute  except  the  consulares,  of  whom  only  L.  Caesar  is 
reliable  and  upright.  We  have  lost  a  tower  of  strength  by  the  death 
of  Servius  Sulpicius.  The  rest  are  deficient,  some  in  energy,  others 
in  principle.  Some  envy  the  fame  of  those  who  they  see  have  won 
approval  in  the  government.  But  there  is  a  wonderful  unanimity 
among  the  people  at  Rome  and  throughout  Italy."  A  similar  account 
of  the  situation  is  given  in  the  tenth  Philippic,*^^  which  was  delivered 
shortly  before  this  letter  was  written.^** 

Cicero  expected  too  much  of  Decimus  Brutus.  For  probably  the 
larger  part  of  Antonius'  forces — he  had  six  legions  ^^^  besides  his 
praetorian  cohort  and  cavalry — remained  before  the  walls  of  Mutina. 
And  even  if  Decimus  who  had  only  one  veteran  legion  and  two  of 
recruits,^^®  had  been  able  to  break  through  the  strong  circumvallation 
of  Antonius,  he  would  most  likely  have  been  crushed  by  the  com- 
bined forces  of  his  opponent  before  effecting  his  escape.^*^  Cicero, 
in  his  picture  of  the  situation  in  Italy,  fails  to  take  account  of  Ven- 
tidius  Bassus  with  his  three  legions,  two  of  which  he  had  raised  for 
Antonius,  probably  in  the  previous  year,  among  the  veterans  of 
Caesar  colonized  in  Campania,  and  the  third,  in  the  Picene  country, 
in  the  early  part  of  43.^*®  In  the  beginning  of  March,  Ventidius 
was  reported  to  have  arrived  at  Ancona.^^' 

In  the  latter  part  of  February  Titus  Munatius  Plancus  in  the 
service  of  Antonius  was  defeated  and  forced  out  of  PoUentia  by 
Pontius  Aquila,  a  legatus  of  Decimus  Brutus.*'® 

Decimus  himself,  in  Mutina,  had  repelled  the  assaults  of 
Antonius  with  vigor.*'*  The  secret  agents  of  the  latter,  sent  into 
the  city  to  corrupt  his  men,  Decimus  detected  and  arrested.    Anto- 

itj  Paragraph  lo.  «»»  Phil.  viii.  25. 

«■<  Cf.  Gnater,  loc.  cit.  "«  Fam.  x.  33.  4. 

i*r  Bononia,  where  the  magnum  praesidium  was,  was  only  twenty-five  Roman  miles  from  Mutina,  and 
L.  Antonius,  at  Parma,  was  only  thirty-five  Roman  miles  distant  from  Mutina. 

"•  App.  iii.  66.  Cf.  Schmidt,  "P.  Ventidius  Bassus"  (Philohgus,  LI,  pp.  198  ff.),  and  Bodewig, 
De  proeliis  apud  Mutinam  commissis,  pp.  9  ff. 

<*«  Phil.  xii.  33.  March  8  is  the  latest  terminus  for  the  delivery  of  Philippic  xii  (Ruete,  p.  45).  For 
the  appointment  of  the  second  embassy  to  Antonius,  which  probably  took  place  the  day  before  the  speech 
was  delivered  (certainly  not  more  than  two  days  before;  of.  xii.  i  ff.  and  7),  is  mentioned  in  the  letter 
of  Antonius  to  Hirtius  and  Caesar  {Phil.  xiii.  36)  which  was  brought  to  Rome  March  ao.  The  terminus 
post  quem  is  February  33  {Phil.  xii.  24).  Philippic  xi,  then,  must  be  dated  somewhat  earlier  than  Schmidt 
puts  it,  as  Rente  has  shown. 

>*•  Dio  xlvi.  38.  3;  PhU.  xi.  14  (cf.  PhU.  xiii.  S7).  Schmidt  {De  epist.  et  a  Cassia  et  ad  Cassium 
pp.  34-37)  thinks  that  the  terminus  ante  quem  of  PhU.  xi.  was  March  7. 

•»«  Dio  xlvi.  36.  I.     Cf.  PhU.  viiL  17,  ao. 


86 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


nius  had  already  by  the  end  of  January  surrounded  the  town  with 
works,  and  cut  off  communication  with  the  outside  world.  Starva- 
tion seemed  the  only  feasible  method  of  reducing  the  besieged  to 
submission. 

In  the  beginning  of  March  Cicero's  anxiety  for  the  safety  of 
Decimus  had  become  so  great  that  he  even  allowed  himself  to  be 
named  a  member  of  the  new  peace  commission  of  five  consulares 
that  the  senate  voted  to  send  to  Antonius."*    But  this  action  of  the 
senate  proved  unpopular  in  the  city,  and  Cicero,  after  reflecting 
that  it  would  be  a  confession  of  weakness  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment at  Rome,  appeared  in  the  senate  the  next  day,  and,  in  the 
twelfth  Philippic,  pleaded  that  he  along  with  the  consul  Pansa  and 
others  had  been  deceived  "'  by  the  false  hopes  of  peace  held  out  by 
the  friends  of  Antonius,  and  urged  the  folly  and  inexpediency  of 
such  an  embassy,  and  especially  the  impossibility  of  his  being  a 
member  of  it.    The  consequence  was  that  the  embassy  never  left  the 
city.    From  the  letter  of  Antonius  which  Cicero  incorporates  in  the 
thirteenth  Philippic,  it  appears  that  Antonius  had  made  overtures  to 
Hirtius  and  Caesar,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  com- 
pact with  them  without  regard  to  the  senate.     Hirtius  and  Caesar 
wrote  back  that  there  could  be  no  peace  unless  Decimus  Brutus  were 
either  released  or  aided  with  provisions.    They  also  referred  in  their 
letter  to  the  fact  that  the  senate  had  appointed  legati  to  Antonius."* 
The  latter  replied  in  a  scornful  letter  taunting  Hirtius  and  Octa- 
vianus  for  acting  with  the  Pompeians  and  the  enemies  of  the  dictator, 
after  they  had  received  so  many  favors  at  his  hands."*^ 

The  meeting  of  the  senate  at  which  this  letter  was  read  was 
held  on  March  20."«  Perhaps  Hirtius  and  Caesar  were  goaded  to 
action  by  this  stinging  epistle  which  they  received  about  the  middle 
of  March.  For  they  now  became  alarmed  for  fear  that  Decimus, 
owing  to  the  straits  to  which  he  was  reduced  for  lack  of  food, 
might  make  terms  with  Antonius."^  Accordingly,  Caesar  left  his 
camp  at  Forum  Comelium,  joined  Hirtius  at  Clatema,  and  together 
they  marched  toward  Bononia."*     On  their  approach  the  garrison 

»»•  PhU.  xii.  I,  3,  17  ff.  us  PkU.  xiH.  22  ff. 

»»3  PhU.  xii.  1,  a,  7.  "«  PhU.  xiii.  7  ff..  so  and  Fam.  x.  6.  1. 

*i*PhU.  jdii.  34,  36.  «J»Dio  xlvi.  36.  a;   App.  iii.  65. 

**•  That  Hirtius  and  Caesar  did  not  winter  together  as  Appian  states,  is  shown  by  Cicero  {Fam.  xii. 
5.  a):  erat  an/em  Clatemae  nosttr  Hirtius,  ad  Forum  Comelium  Caesar  ....  Hiempsadhuc  rem  geri 
^hibuerat,  whose  statement  is  confirmed  by  Dio  xlvi.  35.  7. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


87 


of  Antonius  abandoned  the  place;  Hirtius  and  Caesar  took  it  and 
proceeded  on  their  march  toward  Mutina.  They  put  to  flight  some 
cavalry  of  Antonius  that  had  turned  to  face  them;  but  when  they 
came  to  the  river  Scultenna,  about  five  Roman  miles  from  Mutina, 
they  found  the  bridge  guarded  by  a  strong  detachment  of  Antonius' 
troops,  and  there  they  halted.^'® 

Wishing  to  indicate  their  presence  to  Decimus,  they  signalled  to 
him  by  means  of  beacons  lighted  in  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees. 
When  these  were  not  understood,  they  sent  swimmers  across  the 
river  in  the  night  with  letters  written  on  thin  plates  of  lead  and 
fastened  to  their  arms.^*®  These  messengers,  it  must  be  assumed, 
swam  the  river  either  above  or  below  the  place  where  the  troops  of 
Antonius  were  stationed  and  thus  found  their  way  past  the  sentinels 
of  Antonius  into  the  town.^*^  Hirtius  and  Decimus  also  made  use 
of  carrier  pigeons  to  communicate  with  each  other.^**  Some  relief 
was  brought  to  the  destitute  condition  of  the  besieged  by  means  of 
salt  and  cattle  floated  down  the  river  to  a  point  from  which  they 
could  be  conveyed  unnoticed  into  the  town.^*' 

The  extremity  to  which  Decimus  Brutus  and  his  men  were 
reduced  for  want  of  provisions  caused  disquiet  at  Rome.  In  two 
letters  written  about  the  end  of  March,  one  to  Cassius,^**  the  other 
to  M.  Brutus,^**^  Cicero  gives  an  idea  of  the  desperate  straits  in 
which  Decimus  was.  In  the  letter  to  M.  Brutus,  Cicero  says :  "At 
the  time  I  write  this,  the  situation  is  thought  to  have  reached  a 
crisis ;  for  gloomy  letters  and  reports  are  being  brought  from  our 
Brutus."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  he  is  not  especially  alarmed  by 
these  reports ;  that  he  has  confidence  in  the  armies  and  generals 
of  the  senate;  he  does  not  agree  with  the  majority  of  people,  for 
he  does  not  find  fault  with  the  fidelity  of  the  consuls,  which  is  very 
much  under  suspicion.    He  does  desire  in  some  things  foresight  and 

«»•  Dio  xlvi.  36.  3;  Front.  Strateg.  iii.  13.  7.  The  Scultenna  (Scoltenna)  is  the  western  tributary  of 
the  Panaro  (cf.  Gardthausen  ii.  i.  pp.  37  f.).  Apinan  (iii.  73)  speaks  of  "  bridges,"  but  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  via  Aemilia  crossed  the  Scultenna  by  more  than  one  bridge. 

lie  Dio  xlvi.  36.  4,  s;  Front.  Strateg.  iii.  13.  7;  Plin.  N.  H.  x.  37.  no. 

<«<  The  assumption  of  Paulus  (p.  34)  and  Gardthausen  (ii.  i.  p.  38)  that  the  Scultenna  originally 
flowed  beneath  the  walls  of  Mutina  in  the  bed  of  what  b  now  the  eastern  tributary  of  the  Secchia,  and  has 
since  changed  its  course,  seems  strange  and  difiEicult.  It  is  true  that  the  account  of  Frontinus  convejm  the 
imiH«ssion  that  the  Scultenna  flowed  close  by  the  town  of  Mutina,  though  it  does  not  distinctly  say  so. 
But  if  the  troops  of  Hirtius  and  Caesar  were  encamped  just  across  the  river  from  Mutina,  why  was  it  neces- 
sary to  signal  their  presence  to  the  besieged  from  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees  (Dio  xlvi.  36.  4)  ? 

»♦•  Front.  Strateg.  iii.  13,  8;  Plin.  N.  H.  x.  no.  ***  Fam.  xii.  6. 

•«  Front.  Strateg.  iii.  14.  3,  4.  »♦»  Ad  Brut.  ii.  1. 


88 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


haste,  and  if  they  (the  consuls)  had  shown  these  qualities,  they 
would  long  before  have  restored  the  free  state.  In  the  letter  to 
Cassius,  written  a  little  later,  he  seems  to  have  received  more  definite 
news  from  Decimus.  "Brutus,"  he  says,"«  "is  holding  out  with 
difficulty  now;  if  he  has  been  saved,  we  have  already  con- 
quered; but  if — may  the  gods  avert  the  omen! — you  and  Marcus 
Brutus  are  the  last  refuge  of  all."  ^*^ 

From  the  first  letter  quoted  it  seems  that  the  long  delay  of  the 
consuls  in  making  any  effort  to  relieve  Decimus  caused  their  loyalty 
to  be  called  into  question.  They  certainly  were  singularly  slow  in 
bringing  aid  to  Decimus,  whose  long  and  heroic  defense  of  Mutina 
against  overwhelming  odds  affords  proof  enough  of  his  courage  and 
fortitude  as  well  as  of  his  skill  as  a  commander. 

But  the  siege  was  not  to  last  much  longer.    For  on  March  19  "» 

Pansa  left  Rome  with  the  new  levies,  consisting  of  four  legions  of 

recruits,"'  to  reinforce  his  colleague,  Hirtius,  and  the  young  Caesar. 

To  avoid  Ventidius,  who  was  watching  for  the  consul  at  Ariminum 

or  Fanum,  Pansa  marched  along  the  ina  Cassia  "®  by  way  of  Faesulae 

toward  Bononia.    Hirtius  sent  Galba  a  hundred  miles  on  the  way  to 

meet  him  and  bid  him  hurry  to  the  rescue.     In  the  night  of  April 

13-14,  Hirtius,  who  was  expecting  Pansa  to  arrive  in  his  camp  on 

the  next  day,  also  sent  D.  Carfulenus  with  the  Martian  legion  and 

two   praetorian   cohorts   to   conduct   him   and   his   recruits   safely 

thither.*"     There  had  already  been  numerous  cavalry  skirmishes, 

and  Antonius,  anxious  for  a  decisive  engagement  before  the  arrival 

of  Pansa,  had  appeared  in  battle  array  before  the  camp  of  Hirtius 

and  Caesar.     They  did  not  show  fight,  however,   as  they  were 

determined  to  wait  for  reinforcements."*     Consequently,  Antonius 

marched  with  two  veteran  legions  II  and  XXXV,  to  cut  oflF  Pansa, 

supposing  that  he  would  meet  only  raw  recruits."*    He  awaited  the 

approach  of  Pansa  at  Forum  Gallorum,  eight  miles  from  Mutina, 

and  having  repulsed  him,  was  himself  defeated  by  Hirtius  on  the  same 

««*  Pom.  xii.  6.  a. 

»«»  Ci.Ad  Brut.  ii.  a.  a.  (April  xi):  Est  enim  spes omiUs in  Bruto  exptdiendo,  de quo  vthementer  time- 


«♦•  Pam.  xii.  3$-  »■     Quinquatribus  frequenH  senatu  ....  Pansa  tuas  litteras  recitavU,  and  Phtl. 
xiii.  i6:    Caesar  confecit  imvictum  txercitum;  duo  Jortisrimi  consults  adsumt  cum  copUs. 
«<•  Pam.  X.  30.  1. 

»»•  PkU.  jriu.  aj;  Schmidt,  "P.  Ventidius  Baisu*,"  PkUoUgus,  LX,  pp.  aos  f. 
»»»  Pam.  X-  30.  I. 
««•  App.  iii.  6s;  Dio  xlvi.  37.  1-3.  tw  Pam.  z.  30.  4.  5. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


89 


ground  and  forced  to  retreat  to  his  camp  at  Mutina."*  While  this 
battle  was  going  on  at  Forum  Gallorum,  L.  Antonius,  at  Mutina, 
made  an  attack  on  the  camp  of  Hirtius  and  Caesar,  but  was  repulsed 
by  the  latter.^"*  These  several  engagements  were  fought  on  April 
14,"®  and  the  news  of  them  reached  Rome  on  the  20th."^ 

Three  days  before  this  news  came  there  were  rumors  to  the 
eflfect  that  Antonius  had  been  victorious;  whereupon  his  partisans 
planned  to  take  possession  of  the  Capitol,  the  Forum,  and  the  gates 
of  the  city.  They  spread  the  report  that  Cicero  intended  to  assume 
the  fasces  as  consul,  and,  according  to  Cicero  himself,  they  plotted 
to  kill  him  as  a  tyrant  because  of  his  alleged  intention  to  usurp 
the  consulship.  But  P.  Apuleius,  on  April  20,  got  up  a  counter- 
demonstration  on  behalf  of  Cicero,  in  which  a  large  assembly  of  the 
people  declared  its  confidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the  orator.  Within 
two  or  three  hours  thereafter  came  the  joyful  news  of  the  victory 
and  the  dispatches  of  the  republican  generals.  There  was  then 
another  demonstration  of  the  people,  who  in  a  vast  throng  conducted 
Cicero  to  the  Capitol  and  thence  to  the  Forum,  where  he  responded 
in  a  speech  to  their  expressions  of  good  will  and  shouts  of  congratu- 
lation."® On  the  next  day  the  senate  met  and,  on  the  motion  of 
Cicero,  decreed  that  a  monument  be  erected  to  the  slain;  that  the 
rewards  promised  them  be  paid  to  their  heirs ;  that  there  be  suppli- 
cationes  of  fifty  days  in  honor  of  the  two  consuls  and  of  Octavianus, 
who  were  all  three  to  be  designated  as  imperatores;  and  that  the 
promises  already  made  to  the  soldiers  be  renewed.^*' 

The  substance  of  Appian's  report  of  the  events  after  the  battle 
of  Forum  Gallorum  is  as  follows :  After  his  defeat  at  Forum  Gal- 
lorum, Antonius  determined  to  avoid  a  pitched  battle  and  to  harass 
the  enemy  by  cavalry  skirmishes  until  Decimus,  exhausted  by  want 

»»«  PkU.  xiv.  a7. 

«»s  PhU.  xiv.  as.  37;  Pam.  x.  30;  Dio  xlvi.  37;  App.  iu.  67  flF. 

«»•  Oy\d,  Fasti  iv.  6ai  ff.;  C.  /.  L.  x.  8375,  with  Mommsen's  discussion  in  Hermes  (i88a.)  pp.  635  f. 
Mommsen  and  Holzapfel  (Jahrb.  f.  Phil.,  i8q4.  pp.  400  f.)  endeavor  to  show  that  the  date  of  the  battle 
given  in  the  MSS  of  Pam.  x.  30.  i,a.d.  XVII  Kal.  Mai.,  is  the  correct  date,  and  that  the  passage  in  Ovid 
refers  only  to  the  battle  fotight  by  Octavianus  in  defense  of  the  camp  before  Mutina,  and  fixes  the  date  of 
that  battle  as  April  14.  But  they  must  assume  that  the  young  Caesar  fought  two  battles,  one  on  the  14th 
and  the  other  on  the  15th;  whereas  Cicero,  who  had  the  official  reports  of  the  consuls  and  of  the  young 
Caesar  himself  (Phil.  xiv.  ai),  ascribes  only  one  battle  to  him  (Phil.  xiv.  6  and  a8).  Or  they  must  assume 
that  Cicero  was  nmrij  mistaken  when  he  put  the  battle  fought  by  Caesar  on  the  same  day  as  the  battles 
in  which  Pansa  and  Hirtius  took  part.  But  Cicero  could  not  have  made  this  mistake  with  the  official 
dispatches  in  his  hands. 

•ST  Ad  Brut.  i.  3.  a.  «s«  PkU.  xiv.  14-16;  Ad.  Brut.  i.  3.  a. 

»»•  PkU.  xiv.  14,  34  ff.;  Dio  xlvi.  38.  i.  a. 


90 


DECniUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


of  food,  should  surrender.     When  Hirtius  and   Caesar,  who  on 
account  of  Decimus'  situation  were  anxious  for  a  decisive  engage- 
ment, appeared  in  battle  array  before  his  camp,  Antonius  did  not 
respond  to  the  challenge.    Hirtius  and  Caesar  then  proceeded  toward 
the  other  side  of  the  town,  which  was  not  so  well  guarded  because 
naturally  difficult  of  approach,  with  the  idea  of  forcing  an  entrance 
from  that  quarter.    Antonius  attacked  them  with  his  cavalry  only. 
The  cavalry  of  Hirtius  and  Caesar  halted  to  receive  that  of  Antonius, 
while  the  rest  of  their  army  proceeded  on  its  way  around  the  town. 
Antonius,  fearing  that  the  town  would  be  released  from  his  g^sp, 
led  out  two  of  his  legions.    The  forces  of  Hirtius  and  Caesar  turned 
and  gave  battle,  and  Antonius  called  his  other  legions  from  their 
camps.     These  legions,  owing  to  the  suddenness  of  the  summons 
and  the  distance,  were  slow  in  coming  to  the  relief,  and  so  the 
troops  of  Caesar  were  victorious.     Hirtius  penetrated  the  enemy's 
camp  and,   fighting  near  Antonius'  quarters,   was   slain.     Caesar 
secured  the  body  of  the  consul  and  held  the  enemy's  camp  until  he 
was  forced  out  by  Antonius.    Both  sides  spent  the  night  under  arms. 
On  the  next  day,  in  a  council  of  war,  Antonius  was  advised  by  his 
friends  to  continue  the  siege,  while  abstaining  from  battle  according 
to  his  previous  plan.    They  urged  that  his  enemies  had  suffered  as 
much  as  he,  that  Hirtius  had  been  killed,  that  Pansa  was  sick,  that 
he  had  the  advantage  over  them  in  cavalry,  and  that  Mutina,  reduced 
to  the  extremity  of  famine,  would  soon  surrender.     But  Antonius, 
under  the  evil  influence  of  a  god,  feared  that  Caesar,  by  an  attack 
like  that  of  the  day  before,  would  succeed  in  forcing  an  entrance 
into  the  town;  or  that  he  would  endeavor  to  surround  him  with 
his  superior  force,  in  which  case  his  own  superiority  in  cavalry 
would  not  avail.    He  feared  too  the  effect  of  a  defeat  on  Lepidus 
and  Plancus.    So  he  decided  to  retire  from  Mutina  with  the  design 
of  effecting  a  junction  first  with  Ventidius  from  Picenum  and  then 
with  Lepidus  and  Plancus.    With  this  in  mind  he  proceeded  toward 
the  Alps.  Such  is  the  account  of  Appian  (iii.  71,  72),  the  only  source 
that  gives  any  extended  report  of  the  battle  of  Mutina  and  the 
departure  of  Antonius  from  before  its  walls. 

Dio  relates  that  after  the  battle  of  Forum  Gallorum,  Antonius, 
when  Hirtius  and  Caesar  appeared  before  his  camp  at  Mutina,  at 
first  was  frightened  and  remained  quiet,  but,  having  been  reinforced 
by  Marcus  Silanus  with  troops  from  Lepidus,  he  took  courage, 


DECDiUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


91 


made  a  sudden  sally,  and  after  much  slaughter  on  both  sides  turned 
and  fled."®  In  another  passage  "^  Dio  says  that  the  rewards  which 
the  senate  had  previously  promised  to  the  soldiers  of  Caesar  it  now 
voted  to  give  to  those  of  Decimus,  although  the  latter  had  con- 
tributed nothing  to  the  victory,  hut  had  seen  it  from  the  walls. 

Dio  is  in  error  in  regard  to  the  time  of  the  coming  of  Silanus  to 
the  aid  of  Antonius.  For  we  learn  from  Galba's  account^'*  of  the 
battle  of  Forum  Gallorum  that  the  praetorian  cohort  of  Silanus  took 
part  in  the  battle,  and  therefore  Silanus  had  reached  Mutina  at 
least  a  week  before  the  battle  there.  Accordingly,  the  other  state- 
ment of  Dio  that  Antonius,  because  of  the  reinforcement  brought  by 
Silanus,  made  a  sudden  sally  from  his  camp,  thus  assuming  the 
offensive,  contradicts  the  account  of  Appian  given  above  as  well  as 
the  probabilities  in  the  case.  For  Appian  expressly  states  that  CMily 
when  Hirtius  and  Caesar  had  started  to  attack  another  part  of  his 
circumvallation,  did  Antonius  send  his  cavalry  in  pursuit  and  then 
lead  out  two  of  his  legions.  Again,  Dio  would  have  us  believe  that 
Antonius  turned  and  fled  from  the  battle,  whereas  Appian  conveys  d 
different  impression.  For  he  has  it  that,  after  Hirtius,  who  had 
taken  possession  of  the  camp  of  Antonius,  had  been  slain,  Caesar 
held  the  camp  only  a  little  while  before  he  was  dislodged  by 
Antonius.  Appian's  account  is  borne  out  by  the  report  of  the  battle 
that  reached  Asinius  Pollio.  Says  Asinius  in  a  letter  to  Cicero :  "• 
Nunc  haec  mihi  scribuntur  ex  Gallia  Lepidi  et  nuntiantur,  .... 
-fHirtino  autem  proelio  et  quartam  legionem  et  omnis  peraeque 
Antoni  caesas,  item  Hirti,  quartam  vera,  cum  castra  quoque  Antoni 
cepisset,  a  quinta  legione  concisam  esse;  ibi  Hirtium  quoque  perisse 
et  Pontium  Aquilam;  did  etiam  Octavianum  cecidisse  {quae  si, 
qoud  di  prohibeant!  vera  sunt,  non  medeocriter  doleo) ;  Antonium 
turpiter  Mutinae  obsessionem  reliquisse  sed  habere  equitum  K, 
legiones  sub  signis  armatas  tris  et  P.  Bagienni  unam,  inermis  bene 
multos,  etc.  From  this  passage  it  is  seen  that  Antonius'  departure 
from  Mutina  was  not  a  flight;  that  he  had  probably  inflicted  as 
much  damage  as  he  had  suffered ;  but  that,  considering  his  position 
no  longer  tenable,  and  reflecting  on  the  great  advantages  of  union 
with  Ventidius  and  afterward  with  Lepidus  and  Plancus,  he  retired 
of  his  own  accord  from  the  siege.  Cicero  himself  writes,"*  after  the 
true  inwardness  of  Antonius'  departure  from  Mutina  became  known 


I 


•••  Dio  xlvi.  38.  s-7. 
•'•  Dio  xlvi.  40.  a. 


'«»  Fam.  X.  30.  I. 
'«3  Fam.  X.  33.  4. 


'**  Fam.  xi.  la.  a. 


92 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


at  Rome :  Qui  si  ita  se  habet,  ut,  quern  ad  modum  audiebam  de 
Graeceio,  conHigi  cum  eo  sine  periculo  non  possit,  non  ille  mihi 
fugisse  a  Mutina  zndetur,  sed  locum  belli  gerendi  mutasse.  That 
Antonius'  departure  was  looked  upon  at  first  as  a  retirement  from 
a  strong  position  and,  as  it  were,  an  abandonment  of  the  fight  is 
shown  by  Pollio's  expression :  Antonium  turpiter  Mutinae  obsessio- 
nem  reliquisse.^^^  All  of  this  goes  to  show  that  Dio's  statement 
that  Antonius  ''turned  and  fled,"  whether  he  means  from  the 
battle  or  from  Mutina,  in  either  case  conveys  an  erroneous  impres- 
sion. 

Now,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  every  statement  which  Dio  makes 
in  regard  to  the  battle  is  either  false  or  conveys  a  wrong  impression, 
save  only  his  mention  of  the  death  of  Hirtius  "«  and  of  Pontius 
Aquila,"^  what  he  says  in  regard  to  the  soldiers  of  Decimus  Brutus 
— namely,  that  they  had  no  part  in  the  victory  except  merely  as 
spectators  from  the  walls — may  be  entirely  disregarded.  For  this 
statement  bears  upon  its  face  the  stamp  of  improbability  and  false- 
hood, prompted  by  the  desire  of  its  original  author  to  flatter 
Augustus.  Furthermore,  it  is  flatly  contradicted  by  the  testimony  of 
both  Marcus  Brutus  and  Cicero.  Brutus,  writing  from  Dyrrachium 
in  the  early  days  of  May  on  the  receipt  of  the  first  news  of  the 
battle  of  Mutina,  says :  "®  Cum  alia  laudo  et  gaudeo  accidisse,  turn 
quod  Bruti  eruptio  non  solum  ipsi  salutaris  fuit  sed  etiam  maxima 
ad  victariam  ctdiumento.  Similarly  explicit  is  the  testimony  of 
Cicero  writing.  May  29,  after  he  had  received  the  fullest  possible 
information  in  regard  to  the  battle,  both  favorable  and  unfavorable 
to  Decimus  Brutus :  ^«»  Tantam  spem  attulerat  exploratae  victoriae 
tua  praeclara  Mutina  eruptio,  fuga  Antoni  conciso  exercitu,  ui 
omnium,  animi  relaxati  sint,  etc.  It  is  conceivable  that  Decimus 
left  a  portion  of  his  troops  in  the  town  to  man  the  walls;"®  but 

••»  No  doubt  it  was  reported  at  Rome  that  Antonius  had  been  utterly  routed  and  compelled  to  flee, 
which  was  only  seemingly,  not  really  true.     Cf.  Pam.  xi.  14.  1.  1 

***  Dio  xlvi.  30.  I. 

»•»  Dio  xlvi.  40.  2.  That  Pontius  AquUa  had  a  part  in  the  battle  cannot  be  considered  as  proof  of 
the  participation  of  Decimus  whose  Ugatus  he  was.  For  AquUa  had  been  operating  outside  of  Mutina 
and  was  not  in  the  town  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  as  Schmidt  ("Der  Tag  der  Schlacht  von  Mutina," 
Jahrb.  /.  PhU.,  i8oa.  p.  333)  «eems  to  think.  Cf.  Schelle,  Todeskamff,  p.  19,  n.  3;  Pam.  x.  33.  4;  Ad 
BnU.  i.  15.  8,  and  supra,  p.  85. 

»••  Ad  BnU.  i.  4.  I.  •••  Fam.  xi,  14.  1. 

»»•  Schelle  has  attempted  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  testimony  of  Dio  and  Cicero.  His  conclusion 
ia  (Todeskampf,  pp.  17  fF.):  £r  wird  also  anfangs  sick  abwartmd  verhalUn  und  erst  dann,  als  der  Sieg  sick 
auf  die  Seite  seiner  Verb^ndeUn  neigk,  die  MiUina  einscUiessenden  VeruhanMungen  durchbrochen  kaben. 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


93 


that  he  led  out  a  part  against  the  besiegers,  that  they  fought  with 
desperation,  and  were  an  important  factor  in  deciding  the  battle 
and  influencing  Antonius  to  retire  from  the  town,  seems  as  certain 
as  anything  can  well  be.  If  Decimus  Brutus  did  not  know  of  the 
fate  of  Hirtius  and  Aquila  until  the  next  day,  we  must  assume 
that  he  made  his  sally  through  the  circumvallation  of  Antonius 
at  some  distance  from  the  latter's  camp  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  town ;  or,  what  is  more  likely,  the  camp  of  Antonius  where 
Hirtius  and  Aquila  were  slain  was  some  distance  from  the  walls. 
After  making  his  sally  and  driving  off  the  besiegers  toward  the 
camp  of  Antonius,  Decimus  again  retired  within  the  walls. 

The  date  of  the  battle  of  Mutina,  since  the  conclusive  demonstra- 
tion of  Schelle  ^^^  and  the  additional  argument  of  Schmidt,^^*  is 
now  generally  accepted  as  April  21.  On  the  22d  Antonius  beg^n 
his  march  toward  the  Alps,^^*  and  Decimus  then  learned  for  the 
first  time  of  the  deaths  of  Hirtius  and  Aquila.  On  the  same  day 
Decimus  had  an  interview  with  the  young  Caesar,^^*  whose  camp 
was  probably  across  the  Scultenna,  four  Roman  miles  from  the 
town.^^"  He  urged  upon  Octavianus  the  necessity  of  intercepting 
Ventidius  before  the  latter  could  eflFect  a  junction  with  Antonius 
and  advised  him  to  cross  the  Apennines  for  that  purpose,  while  he 
himself  marched  along  the  via  Aemilia  in  pursuit  of  Antonius. 
Octavianus  probably  gave  him  no  definite  assurance  of  what 
he  would  do,^^**  but  professed  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  the 
senate."^  On  the  morning  of  the  23d  Decimus  received  a  summons 
from  Pansa,  who  was  at  Bononia  dying  from  the  wounds  he  had 
received  at  the  battle  of  Forum  Gallorum.  On  the  way  thither  Deci- 
mus learned  that  Pansa  was  dead,  and  therefore  returned  to  his 
troops  at  Mutina.  They  were  very  much  reduced  in  number  and, 
owing  to  their  long  privations,  were  in  a  wretched  plight,  and  utterly 
unfit  for  the  rapid  pursuit  of  Antonius.  Besides,  Brutus  had  no 
cavalry    and    was    without    beasts    of    burden.^^®     Before    leaving 

>"  Schelle,  Beitr&ge  tur  GeschicU  des  Todeskampfes  der  Rotnischen  Repuhlik.  pp.  9  ff. 
»»•  Schmidt,  "Der  Tag  der  Schlacht  von  Mutina,"  Jahrb.  f.  Phil.,  1892,  p.  325- 
«»»  App.  iii.  12.  '»♦  Pam.  xi.  13.  i. 

"s  App.  iii.  73.     Apinan's  account  of  the  interview  between  Decimus  and  Octavianus  is  false.     Cf. 
Pam.  xi.  13.  I. 

IT*  Pam.  xi.  10.  4.     Quodsi  Caesar  me  audisset  atque  Appeniwum  transisset,  etc. 

'T>  Pam.  xi.  13.  i:   Caesari  non  credebam  priusquam  convenissem  et  coUocutus  essem,  impljring  that 
he  trusted  Caesar  after  the  interview. 

"'Fom.  xi.  13  X,  2. 


ft 


f 


94 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


Mutina,  he  took  over  all  the  recruits  of  Pansa  and  Hirtius  in  the 
neighborhood,  except  one  legion  of  Pansa  which  was  under  the 
command  of  Caesar."* 

On  the  morning  of  April  24  Decimus  set  out  in  pursuit  of 
Antonius,  who  had  two  full  days'  start  of  him."«  According  to 
Schelle  and  Schmidt,  owing  to  the  exhausted  condition  of  his 
troops,  it  must  have  required  two  days  for  him  to  reach  Regium 
Lepidi,  seventeen  Roman  miles  from  Mutina.  There  he  halted  and 
spent  a  few  days  in  securing  provisions  for  his  army,  as  well  as 
beasts  of  burden  to  convey  his  baggage.  Antonius  had  just  foraged 
the  country,  and  Decimus'  task  of  victualing  his  forces  was  there- 
fore all  the  more  difficult.  At  Regium  he  was  probably  joined  by 
the  troops  of  Pansa  that  had  been  stationed  at  Bononia."* 

Meantime,  on  April  26  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Mutina  reached 
Rome.     The  senate  met  immediately  and  declared  that  Antonius 
and  his  followers  were  hostes,^^^  and  voted  that  their  property  be 
confiscated  ;  that  the  saga  be  laid  aside ;  "« that  there  be  a  supplicatio 
m  honor  of  Decimus  in  all  the  temples  of  the  gods ;  "*  that  he  be 
granted  the  honor  of  a  triumph ; "»  that  the  consuls  be  buried  in 
the  Campus  Martius,  and  that  statues  be  erected  to  them  and  to 
Pontms  Aquila,  the  legatus  of  Decimus.^««     To  Octavianus  it  was 
voted  that  he  be  permitted  to  enter  the  city  in  ovation.    The  rewards 
promised  to  the  soldiers  were  to  be  paid.    That  there  was  discrimina- 
tion against  the  soldiers  of  the  young  Caesar,  as  is  asserted  by  Livy. 
Velleius,  and  Cassius  Dio,  is  hardly  credible  in  view  of  the  express 
testimony  of  Appian  to  the  contrary.^"    The  motion  of  Cicero  that 
the  name  of  Decimus  Brutus  be  entered  in  the  calendar  opposite  the 
day  on  which  the  news  of  his  release  from  Mutina  was  received  at 
Rome,  which  was  also  his  birthday,  failed  of  passage."'     On  the 
same  day  (April  27)  it  was  decreed  that  Decimus  Brutus  should 

tegumem  mtht  Caesar  turn  remUiit. 

»••  Fam.  xi.  13.  2:  Biduo  me  Antonius  antecessU. 

«•'  Cf.  App.  ui.  76;  Schmidt,  loc.  cU. 

»•»  Ad  Brut.  i.  5.  I,  3fl;  Fam.  x.  ai.  4;  liv.  EpU.  119;  Dio.  xlvi.  39.  3. 

«•»  Dio  xlvi.  30.  3. 

»•«  Fam.  xi.  18.  3.     Cf.  Dio.  loc,  cit.,  and  40.  1.  and  App.  ui.  74. 

*«»Liv.  £^.  ,,9:   Veil.  ii.  6a.  4. 

'»•  Ad  Brut.  i.  ,5.  8;  Liv.  EfU.  119;  VeU.  ii.  6a.  4;  Val.  Max.  v.  a.  .0;  Dio  xlvi.  40.  a 

m..  Z  f  T*°  !k  •  '•'•l'*'?  '^*'  '***  ^''^  '*^°"  '^'  ^  ^""^^  ^°»«°»"»  **^  »o  be  paid  5,000  drach- 
mae and  to  have  the  nght  of  wearing  an  olive  crown  in  pcrpetuum.    Cf.  Fam.  xi.  ao  a  V 

fi«d  iL'da^t;  A;^';,:*-  ^""  "•  "•  '  •"'  "•  "•  '-    ^^'''  ^-*^*-  ^-  ^**^- ''89a.  p.  333.  ha. 


DECIMUS*   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


95 


take  command  of  the  army  of  the  consuls  and  should  pursue 
Antonius.^®* 

Returning  to  Decimus  Brutus,  we  find,  from  a  letter  of  his  to 
Cicero,"°  that  on  April  29  he  was  still  at  Regium.  The  time  since 
he  arrived  he  had  spent  in  giving  his  troops  a  much-needed  rest, 
in  reorganizing  his  army,  and  in  equipping  it  with  provisions,  bag- 
gage animals,  and  some  cavalry.  When  ready  to  begin  his  march 
anew,  he  wrote  Cicero  of  his  plans.  They  were  briefly:  to  drive 
Antonius  out  of  Italy  and  guard  the  passes  of  the  Alps  to  prevent 
his  return,  and  to  meet  and  defeat  Ventidius  Bassus,  if  possible, 
before  he  could  eflfect  a  junction  with  Antonius.  He  urged  Cicero 
to  use  his  influence  by  messengers  and  letters  with  that  "shifty 
fellow  Lepidus,"  to  prevent  his  renewing  the  war  in  conjunction 
with  Antonius.  He  was  firmly  convinced  that  Lepidus  would  never 
do  right.  Of  Asinius  Pollio  he  expressed  no  judgment,  for  he 
thought  that  Cicero  knew  what  Asinius  would  do.  Lepidus  and 
Asinius  "^  were  important  because  of  the  number  and  reliability  of 
their  legions.  He  wished  Cicero  also  to  secure  Plancus  ^^^  in  whose 
loyalty  Decimus  had  confidence  after  the  defeat  of  Antonius. 

On  the  29th  Decimus  broke  camp  at  Regium,  continued  his 
march  along  the  via  Aemilia,  and  on  May  5  arrived  at  Dertona, 
having  traversed  the  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  ten  Roman 
miles  in  seven  days.^®^  Here  he  received  news  of  the  decrees  passed 
by  the  senate  after  the  report  of  the  battle  of  Mutina  and  the  flight 
of  Antonius  had  become  known  at  Rome.  He  also  learned  of  the 
rejection  by  the  senate  of  Cicero's  motion,  that  the  27th  of  April, 
his  birthday,  be  indicated  in  the  calendar  as  such,  since  it  was  also 
the  day  of  the  announcement  in  Rome  of  the  victory  at  Mutina."* 

«•»  Ad  Brut.  i.  5.  i;  Liv.  EpU.  lao;  Fam.  xi.  14.  a,  19.  i;  App.  iii.  74.  76,  80;.  Dio.  xlvi.  40,  x,  47, 
3,  50. 1.    For  other  decrees  in  regard  to  Sex.  Pompeius,  M.  Brutus,  and  C.  Cassius,  vide  Lange.  Ill,  p.  536. 

•••  Fam.  xi.  9. 

»•»  Lepidus,  governor  of  Narbonese  Gaul  and  Hither  Spain,  had  seven  legions  (App.  iii.  84).  Deci- 
mus' judgment  of  him  was  confirmed  by  the  sequel.  Asinius,  governor  of  Further  Spain,  had  three  legions; 
Fam.  X.  3a.  4. 

«••  Plancus,  go\-emor  of  Gallia  Comata,  was  at  this  time  in  the  country  of  the  Allobroges  on  his  way 
to  Italy  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  senate.     (Cf.  supra,  p.  84,  and  Fam.  xi.  11.  a.) 

«•»  Fam.  xi.  10. 

«•«  Ad  Brut.  i.  15.  8;  cf.  Schmidt  {Jahrh.  f.  PkU.,  180a,  p.  333),  who  says  that  the  motion  was  that 
the  expression  NAT(alis)  D.  IVNI  BRUTI  ALBINI  should  be  placed  in  the  calendar  opposite  the 
a6th  or,  more  correctly  the  a 7th,  since  on  the  latter  day  the  news  of  the  release  of  Decimus  from  siege 
leached  Rome.  The  fact  that  Decimus  received  at  Dertona  the  report  of  the  defeat  of  Cicero's  motion  is. 
as  Schmidt  states,  a  proof  that  the  battle  of  Mutina  was  fought  on  the  aist  and  the  release  of  Decimus  took 
place  on  the  aad.  For  it  would  require  eight  days  for  the  account  of  the  transactions  of  the  senate  on  the 
a7th  in  regard  to  the  good  news  about  Decimus  that  left  Mutina  on  the  aad,  to  reach  Dertona.  That  is, 
the  report  of  the  senate's  proceedings  would  get  to  Dertona  about  May  5. 


96 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


In  regard  to  those  in  the  senate  who  objected  to  decrees  in  his 
honor,  Decimus  wrote  Cicero  that  he  preferred  his  judgment  to 
that  of  all  those  of  the  opposition.  For  Cicero's  judgment  was  real 
and  sincere,  whereas  that  of  the  opposition  was  warped  by  malice 
and  envy."»  "Let  them  prevent  my  being  honored,"  says  he,  "pro- 
vided they  do  not  interfere  with  the  successful  conduct  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  state."  He  refers  to  the  serious  danger  to  the  state 
involved  in  the  loss  of  the  consuls,  and  apparently  hints  at  the  ambi- 
tion of  Octavianus  to  hold  the  consulate.^*'  He  reports  that  Antonius, 
who  had  fled  from  Mutina  with  a  "small  force  of  unarmed  infantry," 
by  seizing  gangs  of  slaves  in  barracks  and  impressing  men  of  all  con- 
ditions, had  raised  a  considerable  army.  This  army  had  been  increased 
by  the  force  of  Ventidius,  who  had  made  a  difficult  march  across  the 
Apennines  and,  probably  on  May  3,  joined  Antonius  at  Vada 
Sabatia.  Brutus  complained  bitterly  of  Octavianus  because  he  had 
not  crossed  the  Apennines  and  intercepted  Ventidius.  "For  then  I 
should  have  driven  Antonius  to  such  straits,"  says  Decimus,  "that 
he  would  have  perished  of  destitution  rather  than  by  the  sword.^»» 
But  orders  cannot  be  given  to  Caesar  nor  can  Caesar  give  orders  to 
his  army." 

After  this  union  with  Ventidius  the  plan  of  Antonius,  according 
to  Decimus,  who  was  not  yet  sure  of  it,  was  either  to  join  Lepidus ; 
or,  occupying  the  Apennines  and  Alps,  to  make  raids  with  his 
large  force  of  cavalry  into  the  country  round  about ;  or  to  march 
back  into  Etruria,  a  part  of  Italy  that  was  without  an  army.  Deci- 
mus feared  the  effect  at  Rome  of  the  strengthening  of  Antonius' 
army  by  new  recruits  and  by  the  junction  with  Ventidius.  The 
voluntary  departure  of  Antonius  from  Mutina,  having  as  it  did 
the  appearance  of  a  flight,  had  not  only  produced  the  false  impres- 

»•»  Cicero  himself,  two  months  kler,  in  a  letter  to  Marcus  Brutus  (i.  1 5.  8)  says  of  those  who  opposed 
his  motion  for  granting  this  special  honor  to  Decimus:  Atque  iUo  die  cognovi  paulo  pluris  in  senatu  male- 
volos  esse  quam  graios. 

^**Fam.  xi.  lo.  I,  a:  Quae  (res  publica)  quatUo  sit  in  periculo  quam  potero  brn-issime  exponam. 
Frtmum  omntum  quantam  pertitrbationem  rerum  urbanarum  ad/erai  obUus  consvlum  quantamque  cupidita- 
tem  homtnUms  honoris  iniciat  vacuitas  non  te  fugit.  Satis  me  midta  scripsisse,  quae  lUteris  commendari 
fosstnt,  arbitror:   scio  enim  cut  scribam. 

«"  Schmidt  (Jahrb.  /.  PhU.,  1892.  p.  327;  PhiMogus,  189a.  p.  208)  has  shown  that  the  original 
plan  of  Decunus  was  that  Caesar  should  march  from  Bononia  across  the  Apennines  to  Florentia  and 
meet  Ventidius.  who  was  probably  at  Faventia  when  the  battle  of  Mutina  was  fought,  and  received  orders 
immediately  thereafter  to  march  southwest  across  the  Apennines  to  Florentia  and  thence  northwest  along 
the  vta  Aemilta,  in  order  to  effect  a  junction  with  Antonius  at  Vada.  This  was  probably  the  route  that 
Ventidius  did  take;  i.  e.,  from  Faventia  by  way  of  Faesulae.  Pistoria.  Luca,  and  Genua,  to  Vada.  a  distance 
of  350  miles. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


97 


sion  at  Rome  that  Antonius  was  completely  routed  and  was  running 
away  as  fast  as  he  could  with  a  mere  handful  of  men,  but  it  had 
deceived  Decimus  himself,  who  plainly  underestimated  the  strength 
of  Antonius  after  the  battle.*"* 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  statement  of  PoUio,  Antonius,  after  his 
union  with  Ventidius,  had  seven  legions  and  five  thousand  cavalry 
under  his  command,  though  three  of  these  legions  were  probably  not 
full.  That  the  army  of  Antonius  was  now  stronger  than  that  of 
Decimus  it  is  safe  to  infer  from  the  language  of  Cicero,*®*  who  had 
received,  besides  this  letter  of  Brutus,  a  personal  report  from  Brutus' 
messenger  Graeceius.  Decimus  himself  had  but  seven  legions,*®* 
only  one  of  which  had  seen  veteran  service,  the  rest  being  for  the 
most  part  raw  recruits.  These  legions,  he  wrote  Cicero,  he  was 
no  longer  able  to  support  with  his  private  means.  He  had  spent  his 
fortune  of  more  than  40,000,000  sesterces  and  mortgaged  all  his 
property  to  his  friends  since  he  had  undertaken  the  task  of  freeing 
the  republic.-®* 

By  the  next  day.  May  6  ^^^  Brutus  had  advanced  into  the  country 
of  the  Statieilenses,  where  he  learned  definitely  that  Antonius  was 
on  his  way  to  join  Lepidus.  In  memoranda  that  had  fallen  into  his 
hands,  he  found  the  names  of  the  messengers  Antonius  had  sent  to 
Asinius,  Lepidus,  and  Plancus,  respectively.  He  immediately  dis- 
patched a  messenger  to  Plancus  urging  him  not  to  yield  to  the 
solicitations  of  Antonius,  but  to  oppose  him.    Within  two  days  he 

t9»  In  Fam.  id.  g,  Decimus  seems  to  have  more  fear  from  Leindus  than  from  Antonius  himself.  In 
par.  3  of  the  present  letter  we  have  his  conception  of  Antonius'  force  at  Mutina:  Revertor  nunc  ad  Ante- 
nium.  Qui  ex  fuga  cum  parvulam  manum  peditum  haberet  inermium,  etc.  Contrast  with  this  the  state- 
ment of  PoUio,  Fam.  x.  33.  4:  Antonium  turpiter  Mutinae  opsessionem  rdiquisse,  sed  habere  equitum  V, 
Ugiones  sub  signis  armatas  tris  et  P.  Bagienni  unam,  inermis  bene  multos;  Ventidium  quoque  se  cum 
legione  sepiima.  octax>a,  nana  coniunxisse.  Compare  with  the  estimate  of  Pollio,  that  of  Lepidus  (Fam. 
X.  34.  I.),  who  writes  to  Cicero  from  Pons  Argenteus  about  May  18,  not  so  long  after  the  imion  of  Ventidius 
and  Antonius:  P.  Ventidius  suas  legiones  tris  coniunxit  cum  eo  et  ultra  me  castra  posuit.  Habebat  antea 
Ifgionem  quintam  et  ex  reliquis  legionibus  magnam  muUitudinem,  sed  inermorum.  Equitatum  habet  mag- 
num: nam  omnis  ex  proelio  integer  discessit,  ita  ut  sint  amplius  equitum  milia  quinque. 

'99  Fam.  xi.  12.  2:  Qui  (Antonius)  si  ita  se  habeJ,  ut.  quem  ad  modum  audiebam  de  Graeceio,  con- 
fiigi  cum  fo  sine  periculo  non  possit,  non  ille  mihi  fugisse  a  Mutina  videtur,  sed  locum  belli  gerendi  mutasse. 

•••  To  the  tliree  legions  which  had  been  with  him  at  Mutina,  had  been  added  four  of  the  five  legions 
of  recruits  that  had  belonged  to  the  armies  of  Hirtius  and  Pansa.  Pansa  had  led  four  l^ons  of  recruits 
into  Cisalpine  Gaul,  but  the  young  Caesar,  had  retained  one  of  these  after  the  battle  of  Mutina.  Hirtiwt' 
and  Caesar's  army  before  the  arrival  of  Pansa  had  consisted  of  four  veteran  legions  and  one  of  recruits. 
Three  of  Pansa 's  legions  and  the  one  legion  of  recruits  of  Hirtius  and  Caesar  had  joined  Decimus  after  his 
release  from  the  siege.     Cf.  Groebe's  Drumann  I,  pp.  450  ff. 

»»•  One  of  these  friends  was  Pontius  Aquila  whose  expenditures  in  behalf  of  Dedmus'  army  the 
senate  voted  to  refund  to  his  heirs  (Dio  xlvi.  40.  2).  If  any  proof  were  needed  of  Decimus'  loyalty  to  the 
cause  of  the  republic,  this  circumstance  would  seem  to  furnish  it. 

»"»  Fam.  xi.  11.  2. 


98 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


expected  to  receive  legati  from  the  Allobroges  and  all  Gaul,  whom 
he  purposed  to  send  back  home  confirmed  in  their  loyalty.*®' 

From  the  country  of  the  Statiellenses  Decimus  continued  his 
march  to  the  southwest  toward  Vada,  where  Antonius  was  encamped. 
When  he  was  within  thirty  Roman  miles  of  Vada,*®*  he  received  the 
report  of  a  speech  that  Antonius  had  delivered  to  his  soldiers  in 
which  he  besought  them  to  follow  him  across  the  Alps,  and  told 
them  that  he  had  an  understanding  with  Lepidus.  The  soldiers  of 
Ventidius  cried  out  against  this  proposal  of  Antonius,  saying  that 
they  ought  to  conquer  or  die  in  Italy.  They  then  begged  that  they 
might  march  to  Pollentia.  Antonius,  not  being  able  to  withstand 
their  clamor,  postponed  his  march  until  the  next  day.  When  Anto- 
nius* projected  advance  upon  Pollentia  became  known  to  Decimus, 
he  immediately  dispatched  five  cohorts  to  anticipate  him  and  directed 
thither  the  march  of  his  main  body.  His  cohorts  arrived  there  an 
hour  before  Trebellius  with  the  cavalry  of  Antonius.  Decimus  con- 
If  sidered  this  an  omen  of  victory.*®'  When  Trebellius  found  the  town 
already  occupied  by  the  troops  of  Brutus,  he  retreated  southward 
and  rejoined  the  main  body  of  Antonius'  forces,  which  now  continued 
its  march  along  the  Ligurian  coast  toward  Lepidus.  Decimus  must 
have  arrived  at  Pollentia  about  the  nth  of  May.  For  on  May  6, 
he  was  at  a  point  about  eight  Roman  miles  east  of  Aquae  Statiel- 
lae.*®*  From  that  point  to  Pollentia  the  distance  by  the  road  was 
about  ninety- two  miles,  five  days'  march. 

Paulus*®^  thinks  that  Decimus  was  deceived  in  thinking  it  of 
advantage  to  occupy  Pollentia.  But  after  the  union  of  Antonius 
with  Ventidius,  Decimus  probably  decided,  in  view  of  the  superiority 
of  the  veteran  forces  of  the  enemy  to  his  own  untried  recruits,  to 
avoid  a  pitched  battle,  and  to  march  to  join  Plancus,  especially  as  he 
thought  that  Lepidus  would  receive  Antonius.  Antonius  doubtless 
knew  that  Decimus  would  direct  his  march  toward  the  northwest 
and  by  taking  the  route  along  the  upper  Durius  (Dorea  Baltea) 
effect  a  junction  with  Plancus,  who  at  this  time  was  encamped  upon 
the  Isara  near  Cularo.    Hence  his  object  in  sending  his  cavalry  to 

••JFam.  xi.  ii.  i.  —*Fam.  xi.  13.  3.  ••iFam.  xi.  13.  4. 

■•*  Ruete,  Correspondent,  p.  50.  Tyrrell  and  Purser,  note  to  Pam.  xi.  13,  put  Brutus  at  Aquae 
Stattellae  on  the  morning  of  the  7th.  But,  probably,  he  spent  the  night  of  the  5th-6th  at  Dertona.  And 
as  it  was  twenty-seven  miles  from  Dertona  to  Aquae  Statiellae,  he  halted  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  at  a 
point  about  eight  miles  east  of  Aquae  Statiellae. 

••»  Dissertation,  p.  47. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


99 


Pollentia  was  to  obstruct  the  march  of  Decimus.  In  reaching  Pol- 
lentia before  the  cavalry  of  Antonius,  Decimus  gained  at  least  the 
advantage  of  keeping  his  road  to  Plancus  clear. 

Plancus  had  already  on  April  26,^®*  in  tardy  obedience  to  the 
mandate  of  tlie  senate,  crossed  the  Rhone  near  Lyons  and  entered 
Narbonese  Gaul,  the  province  of  Lepidus,  with  the  intention  of 
marching  into  Italy  and  co-operating  in  the  relief  of  Decimus 
Brutus  at  Mutina.^*®  He  had  chosen  the  route  through  Bergusium, 
Labiscum,  Lemincum,  along  the  valley  of  the  Isara  (Isere)  through 
the  Graian  Alps  to  Eporedia.^^*  When  he  had  marched  some  dis- 
tance into  the  country  of  the  Allobroges,  he  heard  the  news  of  the 
battle  of  Mutina,  halted  his  march,  recalled  his  cavalry,  and  held  his 
army  in  a  waiting  attitude.  Meanwhile,  through  confidential  mes- 
sengers, he  urged  Lepidus  to  act  in  concert  with  himself  against 
Antonius  ^"  and  for  the  republic.  Lepidus  pledged  himself  to  give 
battle  to  Antonius,  if  he  were  not  able  to  keep  him  out  of  his 
province,  and  requested  Plancus  to  march  with  his  forces  to  join 
him.*"  Accordingly,  Plancus  turned  southward  and,  on  May  12, 
crossed  the  Isara  (Isere)  at  Cularo  by  means  of  a  bridge  which  he 
had  constructed  in  a  single  day.  On  the  13th,  having  learned  of  the 
arrival  of  Lucius  Antonius  at  Forum  luli,  he  sent  his  brother  with 
four  thousand  cavalry  to  meet  him.  He  himself  followed  by  forced 
marches  with  four  legions  and  the  rest  of  his  cavalry.*^' 

From  the  statement  of  Plancus  we  infer  that  L.  Antonius  had 
reached  Forum  luli  by  the  8th  or  9th.  For  it  would  require  four 
or  five  days  for  a  messenger  to  bring  the  news  of  his  arrival  to 
Plancus  on  the  Isere.  From  a  letter  of  Asinius  Pollio,who  announces 
to  Cicero  the  union  of  Ventidius  and  Antonius  and  the  occupation 
of  the  Alps  by  L.  Antonius,  we  conclude  that  L.  Antonius,  with  his 
contingent  of  cavalry  and  cohorts,  was  several  days'  march  in 
advance  of  M.  Antonius'  main  army.***  We  know  from  the  proba- 
bilities in  the  case,  as  well  as  from  the  text  of  Fam.  x.  17.  i,  that 
Marcus  Antonius  with  the  vanguard  of  his  main  army  did  not  arrive 
at  Forum  luli  until  May  15.  For  it  is  practically  certain  that  M. 
Antonius  was  at  Vada  on  May  6,  where  he  made  a  speech  to  his 


*'*  Fam.  X.  9.  3.  "'^  Fam.  x.  ii.  2. 

■'*  Groebe's  Dnunann,  /.  Ankang,  p.  463,  and  C.  I.  L.,  XII,  maps. 

•»  Fam.  X.  II.  3,  15.  I.  *"  Fam.  x.  15.  3,  and  cf.  Groebe,  Dnunann,  I.  Anhang  p.  464. 

•«•  Fam.  X.  15.  a.  •'*Fam.  x.  33.  4. 


lOO 


DECDiUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


army  (vide  supra,  p.  98),  probably,  on  that  day."»    He  apparently 
did  not  leave  Vada  until  May  7,  possibly  not  until  the  8th.    On  his 
departure,  or  before,  he  dispatched  some  cavalry  under  Trebellius  to 
take  Pollentia,  or  at  least  to  make  a  feint  against  it.    Whether  he 
had  to  wait  on  the  way  for  his  cavalry  to  rejoin  him  or  not,  he  would 
not  be  likely  to  march  from  Vada  to  Forum  luli,  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  Roman  miles,^"  along  the   route  of  the 
via  lulia  Augusta,  m  less  than  seven  days.     It  would  probably 
require  eight  days.    And  Antonius  was,  doubtless,  delayed  at  least 
a  day  in  waiting  for  the  cavalry  that  had  gone  to  Pollentia.    Conse- 
quently, it  is  entirely  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  reached  Forum 
luli  on  May  15,  just  as  we  read  in  the  text  of  Fam,  x.  17.  i :  Anto- 
nius Id,  Mai.  ad.  Forum  luli  cum  primis  copiis  venit.     Ventidius 
bidui  spatio  abest  ah  eo.     According  to  Groebe,*"  two  of  the  best 
MSS  have  here  Antonius  Idus  Maias,  etc.    And  so,  under  the  mis- 
taken impression  that  the  Antonius  here  mentioned  is  L.  Antonius, 
whose  arrival  at  Forum  luli  Plancus  chronicles  in  Fam.  x.  15.  3,"« 
Groebe,  in  order  to  make  Plancus  consistent,  suggests  that,  instead 
of  the  simple  alteration  in  the  MSS,  Idus  Maias  to  Id.  Mai.   (or 
Maiis),  that  our  editors  have  adopted,  we  should  write  a.  d.  VIII 
Idus  Maias.     But  the  Antonius  mentioned  in  Fam.  x.    17.    i   is 
none  other  than  Marcus  Antonius,  as  is  shown  by  the  absence  of  the 
praenomen  and  by  the  mention  of  Ventidius  in  the  immediate  connec- 
tion.   Probably  the  truth  is  that  Antonius,  when  he  halted  at  Vada 
about  May  3,*"  at  once  sent  his  brother  Lucius  on  to  meet  Lepidus. 
And  Plancus,  having  already  written  Cicero  of  Lucius'  arrival  at 
Forum  luli,  now  informs  him  that  Marcus  with  the  vanguard  of 
his  main  army  has  arrived  at  the  same  place.    Hence  Groebe's  sug- 
gested change  in  the  present  text  is  unnecessary,  incorrect,  and 
impossible.  * 

This  same  letter  to  Cicero,  written  by  Plancus  on  the  march 
from    Cularo   to    join    Lepidus,"®    announces    that    Lepidus    was 

•»»  Fom.  zi.  13.  a,  3,  4;  d.  zi.  10.  3  and  ad,  11. 

"•  C.  I.  L.,  V,  a,  p.  8a8,  and  XH,  p.  635.     Tabula  PeuHngeriana  makes  it  1*3  miles. 

•«»  Dnunann,  Anhang,  p.  464.  The  MSS  Groebe  refers  to  are  evidently  Mediceus  49.  9  and  Hor- 
Itiamm  a68a.     Cf.  Mendelssohn,  Cicero  EpistuUu,  p.  956. 

•»•  Cum  vero mihi nuntiatum  est  L.  AnUmium  praemissum  cum  equUHms  venisu,  fratrem  cum  equitum 
fuattuor  milibus,  ut  occurrerei  ei,  min  a.  d.  Ill  Idus  Mai.  The  MSS  have  a.d.V  Idus  Mai. ;  but  see  Tyr- 
rell and  Purser's  note,  Vol.  VI,  p.  146. 

•••  Schmidt,  JaMt.  f.  PkU.,  189a,  p.  3a6. 

•••  Fam.  X.  17  is  dated  May  19  or  ao  in  MUlkr's  and  PurMr's  editions,  but  Groebe  (Dnunann,  I,  p 
467)  puts  it  on  May  a?. 


DECIMUS*   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


lOI 


encamped  at  Forum  Voconi,  twenty-four  Roman  miles  from  Forum 
luli,  and  that  he  had  determined  to  wait  there  until  Plancus  joined 
him.  Lepidus  himself  had  already  informed  Cicero  of  his  arrival  at 
Forum  Voconi.**^  "On  hearing,"  he  wrote,  "that  Antonius  with  his 
troops  was  coming  into  my  province,  and  that  L.  Antonius  had  been 
sent  ahead  with  a  part  of  the  cavalry,  I  broke  camp  and  began  my 
march  from  the  confluence  of  the  Rhone  ^^^  against  them.  And  so 
by  continuous  marches  I  have  come  to  Forum  Voconi  and  have 
pitched  my  camp  beyond  on  the  Argenteus  against  the  Antonians." 
In  the  same  letter,  after  reciting  the  fact  that  Ventidius  had  joined 
Antonius  with  his  three  legions,  and  after  stating  the  strength  of 
Antonius'  forces,^^'  he  reports  that  several  of  the  latter's  men  had 
crossed  over  to  himself,  and  that  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  were 
being  continually  diminished.  Among  those  who  had  left  Antonius 
were  Silanus  and  Culleo.  Silanus,  we  remember,  had  been  sent  into 
Italy  ostensibly  to  aid  the  republic,  but  had  fought  on  the  side  of 
Antonius  around  Mutina.*^*  Q.  Terentius  Culleo  had  been  stationed 
by  Lepidus  to  guard  the  passes  of  the  Alps,  but  had  permitted 
Antonius  to  march  through  unhindered.^^'  Lepidus  writes  that, 
although  he  had  been  grievously  wronged  by  those  two  in  that  they 
had  gone  over  to  Antonius,  yet,  out  of  regard  for  humanity  and  the 
ties  of  relationship ( !),***  he  had  spared  their  lives,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  had  dismissed  them  from  his  service  and  had  forbidden 
them  to  remain  in  his  camp.  As  far  as  the  war  was  concerned, 
Lepidus  professed  loyalty  to  the  senate  and  the  republic.  The  date 
of  this  letter  as  well  as  of  the  arrival  of  Lepidus  at  the  Argenteus 
was,  probably.  May  i8.^^^  On  the  22d  he  writes  another  let- 
ter *^'  to  Cicero,  referring  to  certain  "false  rumors"  in  Rome  which 
called  his  loyalty  in  question,  and  expressing  his  pleasure  that  Cicero 
did  not  believe  them.  However,  he  made  no  promise  of  action 
against  Antonius,  but  merely  asked  Cicero  to  expect  him  in  re 
publica  administranda  to  live  up  to  his  previous  reputation,  which, 
if  we  are  to  believe  Dio,*^'  was  certainly  bad  enough. 

Returning  to  Decimus  Brutus,  we  find  that  before  receiving  his 
letter,  which  announced  his  occupation  of  Pollentia,*'®  Cicero,  about 


•••  Fam.  X.  34.  I. 

•••  With  the  Druentia  (Durance). 

**'  Vide  supra,  p.  96. 

»•«  Vide  supra,  pp.  90 f. 

•*s  App.  iii.  83. 


■**  Lepidus  was  brother-in-law  of  Silanus. 

••»  Tyrrell  and  Purser,  Vol.  VI,  p.  173,  note. 

•»•  Fam,  X.  34.  3,  4. 

•*»  Dio  xliii.  i. 

•»•  Fam.  xi.  13.  1-4. 


I03 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


the  middle  of  May  wrote  "^  him  of  the  change  that  men  had  under- 
gone in  the  city,  when  from  the  universal  assurance  that  Antonius 
had  fled  broken-spirited  and  with  a  few  panic-stricken,  unarmed 
soldiers,  they  came  to  realize  that  he  had  merely  transferred  the 
seat  of  war  and  was  still  a  dangerous  antagonist.  "Some  actually 
complain  and  say  that  you  did  not  pursue  him ;  they  think  that,  if  you 
had  hurried,  he  could  have  been  crushed."  Cicero  apparently  did  not 
altogether  approve  of  this  criticism.  "But  still  you  must  see  to  it," 
he  adds,  "that  there  can  be  no  just  complaint.  The  situation  is  thus : 
whoever  crushes  Antonius  will  finish  the  war." 

A  few  days  later,  on  May  19,  Cicero  wrote  another  letter  *"  to 
Decimus,  in  which  he  censures  him  for  the  tone  of  a  recent  dispatch 
of  his  to  the  senate.  In  that  communication  Decimus  had  probably 
expressed  in  a  guarded  manner  his  apprehensions  as  to  the  attitude 
of  Octavianus,  and  his  lack  of  confidence  in  the  position  of  the 
senate,  and  especially  of  its  dominant  faction,  the  party  of  Cicero 
and  himself,  in  view  of  the  supposed  ambitions  of  the  young  Caesar. 
Accordingly,  he  advised  that  the  senate  take  active  measures  to  con- 
ciliate both  Caesar  and  his  soldiers.^^^  There  was  probably  in  the 
dispatch  of  Decimus,  also,  a  warning  that  Lepidus  would  unite  with 
Antonius  against  the  republic.  Cicero  wrote  Decimus  that  his 
advices  to  the  senate  were  too  timid,  considering  the  victory  at 
Mutina.  Furthermore,  the  senate  felt  offended  because  he,  either 
in  the  tone  of  his  recommendations  or  in  so  many  words,  had 
reflected  on  its  courage.  Cicero  in  this  letter  not  only  implied  that 
they  were  free  from  fear  in  regard  to  the  danger  at  which  Decimus 
had  mysteriously  hinted  (the  danger  from  Octavianus),  but  he 
assured  him  that  neither  did  they  fear  Lepidus.^" 

But  even  before  Cicero  wrote  this  letter  Decimus*  apprehensions 
on  the  score  of  Lepidus  had  been  removed.  For  on  May  15,  he 
received  from  Plancus  the  information  that  Antonius  was  not  going 
to  be  received  by  Lepidus. ^'^'^  This  good  news,  coupled  with  the 
announcement  that  Plancus  was  on  his  way  to  join  Lepidus,  and 
that  they  were  going  to  act  in  concert  against  Antonius,  doubtless 

•SI  Fam.  xi.  la.  '*•  Fof*-  «».  i8. 

•31  Cf.  Fam.  xi.  ao.  3,  4.  After  the  battle  of  Mutina,  Caesar  with  five  legions  (four  of  veterans,  one 
of  recruits.  Fam.  xi.  20.  3,  4)  had  marched  southward,  apparently  to  comply  with  the  advice  of  Decimus 
to  intercept  Ventidius.  He  seems  to  have  got  somewhere  near  Ventidius.  but  made  no  attempt  to  stay  his 
progress  toward  Antonius  (App.  iii.  8c).  He  was  probably  engaged  in  raising  additional  troops  and  in 
political  intrigues  through  his  friends  at  Rome. 

•»*Fam.  xi.  18.  i,  a.  •"Fam.  x.  ao.  a;  xi.  14.  3;  cf-  «*•  >3.  i- 


decimus'   administration  of  CISALPINE  GAUL 


103 


had  some  influence  in  causing  Decimus  to  delay  his  departure  from 
Italy.  For  he  naturally  hoped  that  the  combined  forces  of  Plancus 
and  Lepidus  would  be  amply  sufficient  to  crush  Antonius.  Besides, 
the  menacing  attitude  of  the  veterans  under  Octavianus  gave  him 
serious  alarm  for  the  safety  of  his  own  party  at  Rome.*^®  These 
considerations  seem  to  explain  satisfactorily  why  Decimus  deter- 
mined to  remain  in  Italy,  at  least  until  he  heard  from  Cicero  and 
got  further  orders  from  the  senate. ^^^ 

Consequently,  instead  of  continuing  his  march  by  the  most  direct 
route  to  reach  the  passes  of  the  Alps  along  the  valley  of  the  Durius 
(Dora  Riparia),  Decimus,  after  leaving  Pollentia,  turned  eastward 
to  Vercellae,  probably  to  procure  supplies  for  his  needy  troops 
and  to  obtain  recruits.  At  Vercellae,  on  May  21,*'®  he  wrote  to 
Cicero,  sending  at  the  same  time  a  dispatch  to  the  senate,  which 
probably  contained  something  that  might  give  offense  to  the  friends 
of  Octavianus.^^^*  At  any  rate,  Decimus  wished  Cicero  to  alter 
anything  in  his  official  letter  that  it  might  seem  improper  to  make 
public.  In  his  personal  letter  to  Cicero  he  refers  for  the  first  time 
to  his  disappointment  that  the  fourth  and  Martian  legions  had  not 
joined  him  in  accordance  with  the  decree  of  the  senate  adopted 
soon  after  the  battle  of  Mutina.  We  do  not  know  what  influenced 
these  veterans.  Probably  they  were  unwilling,  as  was  reported  to 
Cicero,"®  to  serve  under  one  who  had  had  a  part  in  killing  Caesar, 
and  doubtless  the  prospect  of  larger  rewards  from  Octavianus  had 
no  little  weight  with  them.  In  view  of  the  uncertain  temper  of 
young  Caesar  and  the  threatening  attitude  of  his  soldiers,  the 
veterans  of  the  dictator,  it  was  with  good  reason  that  Decimus  had 
grave  apprehensions  as  to  the  situation  at  Rome.  Nunc  veto,  he 
writes,  cum  sim  cum  tironibus  egentissimis,  valde  et  meam  et  vestram 
vicem  timeam  necesse  est. 

On  the  24th  he  had  advanced  northward  to  Eporedia,  where  he 

»»•  Fam.  xi.  ao.  i,  a. 

•»»  Fam.  xi.  23.  2.  Under  the  drcunwtances  Paulus  (p.  48)  and  JuUien  {Le  Fondateur  de  Lyon,  p. 
7a)  are  unjust  in  their  criticism  of  Decimus  for  his  delay  in  crossing  the  Alps  to  join  Plancus. 

»»•  Fam.  xi.  ip. 

»»•  An  idea  of  the  contents  of  the  dispatch  may  be  obtained  from  the  letter  of  Cicero  in  reply  (Fam. 
id.  14.  a) :  Pecuniae,  quam  desidtras,  ratio  potest  haberi  eaque  habebitw.  De  Bruto  arcessendo  Caesareque 
ad  lUdiae  praesidium  tenendo  valde  tibi  adsemtior.  .  .  ,  ,  Ex  Africa  legiones  exspectantur.  The  8um> 
moning  of  Brutus  was  in  reality  suggested  by  Decimus  to  jwotect  Cicero  and  the  republicans  from  the 
young  Caesar  and  his  soldiers.  So  the  reference  to  Caesar  here  must  be  a  blind  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
tended to  conciliate  him.    Besides,  it  was  probably  a  good  idea  to  keep  him  at  a  distance  from  Antonius. 

•«•  Fam.  xi.  14.  a;  cf.  PhU.  xi.  38. 


I04 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS   BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


wrote  **^  Cicero  more  in  detail  concerning  the  complaints  of  Caesar 
and  the  veterans.  Cicero  was  reported  to  have  made  an  intemperate 
remark  about  Octavianus  (laudandum  adolescentem,  ornandum, 
tollendum),  which  had  been  repeated  to  the  latter  and,  as  Decimus 
hears,  had  given  him  offense.  Decimus'  authority  for  this  stor^, 
Labeo  Segulius,  also  wished  him  to  believe  that  the  veterans  were 
angry  because  neither  Caesar  nor  himself  had  been  appointed  on  the 
board  of  ten  that  had  been  designated  by  the  senate  to  assign  lands 
to  the  soldiers.  The  language  of  the  veterans,  as  Labeo  had 
reported,  was  violent  and  threatening  toward  Cicero.  When  Deci- 
mus heard  this,  though  already  on  his  march  toward  the  Alps, 
he  halted  until  he  could  learn  what  was  going  on  at  Rome.  In  his 
opinion,  the  friends  of  Octavianus,  by  boasting  and  threatening,  by 
inspiring  Cicero  with  terror,  and  by  urging  on  the  young  man,  hoped 
to  make  profit  for  themselves.  Still  he  advised  Cicero  to  be  on  his 
mard,  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  veterans  in  regard  to  the 
decemviri,  and  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  decree  granting  to  them 
the  lands  belonging  to  the  soldiers  of  Antonius  and  promising  that 
the  senate  would  determine  in  the  future  the  matter  of  pecuniary 
rewards  for  them.  Decimus  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  leave 
Italy  unless  it  were  absolutely  necessary.  But  he  was  not  idle.  He 
was  arming  and  equipping  new  legions  so  as  to  have  an  army  "to 
meet  all  the  changes  of  fortune  and  the  violence  of  men."  In  his 
next  letter,  of  the  following  day.  May  25  "*  (he  was  still  at 
Eporedia),  he  spoke  with  renewed  confidence  of  the  loyalty  of  Lepi- 
dus.  As  to  Octavianus  and  the  veterans,  he  seems  to  have  received, 
after  writiiig  on  the  day  before,  reassuring  news."'  So  that  his 
fears  for  Cicero  and  his  party  at  Rome  were  somewhat  relieved,  and 
he  could  write:  Omni  timore  deposito  debemus  libere  ret  puhlicae 
consulere.  Quod  si  omnia  essent  aliena,^**  tamen  tribus  tantis 
exercitibus,  propriis  rei  publicae,  valentibus,  magnum  animum 
habere  debebas,  quem  et  semper  nabuisti  et  nunc  fortuna  adiuvante 
augere  potes. 

Cicero,  in  his  reply  ***  of  June  4  to  the  first  "•  of  Decimus*  letters 

•♦«  Fam   ri.  ao.  •«•  Fam.  xi.  23. 

**»  Most  likely  in  a  letter  from  Cicero,  possibly  Fam.  xi.  18. 

***  Paragraph  i.  In  the  expression  quod  si  omnia  essent  aliena,  Tyrrell  and  Purser  think  that  the 
reference  is  to  Leptdus  and  that  "the  three  armies  are  those  of  Octavianus,  of  Plancus  and  his  (Decimus') 
own."  On  the  contrary,  the  reference  in  the  expression  quoted  is  to  Octavianus.  and  the  three  armies  are 
those  of  Lepidus,  Planctis,  and  Decimus. 

•*>Fam.  xi.  ai.  *^  Fam.  xi.  20. 


decimus'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


105 


from  Eporedia,  avoided  a  direct  denial  of  having  made  the  remark 
about  Octavianus  that  he  was  alleged  to  have  made.  He  explained 
why  Decimus  and  Octavianus  were  not  appointed  on  the  board  of 
ten  to  distribute  lands  to  the  soldiers,  by  the  fact  that  there  was 
opposition  to  Decimus  in  the  senate  on  the  part  of  those  who  were 
persistently  arrayed  against  any  measure  in  his  favor.  Cicero  makes 
light  of  the  warning  of  Decimus  that  he  should  take  care  lest  by 
showing  fear  he  would  be  compelled  to  fear  all  the  more :  **^ 
"Your  injunction  that  I  should  be  on  my  guard  lest  by  showing 
fright  I  may  be  forced  to  be  all  the  more  afraid,  is  a  wise  and 
friendly  one.  But  I  should  like  you  to  persuade  yourself,  since  you 
are  well  known  to  excel  in  that  kind  of  courage,  never  to  have  any 
fear  or  alarm  that  I  may  attain  even  approximately  to  your  particular 
brand  of  bravery." 

In  the  next  letter,  written  two  days  later,  June  6,  in  reply  to 
Decimus'  second  letter  from  Eporedia,  Cicero  says :  **®  Quod  scribis 
in  Italia  te  moraturum,  dum  tibi  litterae  meae  veniant,  si  per  hostem 
licet,  non  erraris  (multa  enim  Romae),  sin  adventu  tuo  bellum 
conHci  potest,  nihil  tibi  sit  antiquius.  He  seems  to  admit  that  trouble 
was  brewing  at  Rome — but  he  thinks  that  the  ending  of  the  war  with 
Antonius  would  be  the  best  service  Decimus  could  render  at  that 
time. 

But  more  than  a  week  before  Cicero  wrote  this,  an  event  had 
happened  that  made  the  task  of  ending  the  war  with  Antonius 
under  the  circumstances  almost  an  impossible  one  for  Decimus.  For 
on  the  29th  of  May,  in  the  early  morning  (the  fourth  watch), 
Antonius  and  his  troops  were  received  into  the  camp  of  Lepidus."* 
Immediately  after  the  union  of  the  two  armies,  on  the  same  day, 
Antonius  began  his  march  toward  Plancus.  Lepidus  remained 
behind  at  the  Pons  Argenteus  until  the  next  day,  May  30,  to  explain 
his  treachery  in  an  official  letter  to  the  magistrates  and  senate. 
Plancus,  who  was  encamped  at  Verdon,  forty  Roman  miles  to  the 
northwest  of  the  camp  of  Lepidus,  did  not  hear  the  news  until 
Antonius  was  already  within  twenty  miles  of  him.  He  at  once 
began  a  hasty  but  orderly  retreat.  On  the  4th  of  June  he  recrossed 
the  Isara   (Isere),  cut  down  the  bridges,  and  awaited  at  Cularo 

•«»  Fam.  xi.  ax.  4;   cf.  xi.  20.  3.  •♦•  Fam.  xi.  24. 

•«•  Fam.  X.  3s;  x.  23;  and  x,  ai  which  Groebe  (Drumann,  I,  pp.  465  fl)  puts  after  the  news  of  the 
union  of  Lepidus  and  Antonius  had  reached  Plancus  on  May  29.  Cf.  App.  iii.  84;  Plut.  Ant.  18;  Dio 
zIti.  51;    Veil-  ii.  63. 


io6 


DECmUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


(Grenoble)  the  arrival  of  Decimus  Brutus,  whom  he  expected  by 
June  g.^'^^ 

Decimus  must  have  started  from  Eporedia  not  later  than  May 
27.  For  by  the  route  which  he  took,  along  the  valley  of  the  Durius 
{Dora  Baltea)  through  the  Graian  Alps,  Darantasia,  Obilinnum, 
and  down  the  valley  of  the  Isara,  the  distance  from  Eporedia  to 
Cularo  was  close  on  to  two  hundred  Roman  miles.^*^  Allowing 
fifteen  miles  a  day,  a  large  number  for  that  rough  country,  he  would 
have  had  to  leave  Eporedia  on  May  2y  to  arrive  at  Cularo  on  June 
8.  Since  his  departure  from  Mutina  he  had  increased  his  army  by 
three  new  legions,*'^  raised  for  the  most  part  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Eporedia.  On  his  march  to  Plancus  he  seems  to  have  received  the 
news  of  the  junction  of  Lepidus  and  Antonius;  for  on  June  3  he 
wrote  to  Cicero:*'^*  "In  my  deep  grief  I  console  myself  with  this 
reflection  that  men  understand  that  with  good  reason  I  feared  what 
has  happened.  Let  them  [the  senate]  deliberate  whether  or  not  to 
bring  over  the  legions  from  Africa  and  Sardinia ;  whether  or  not  to 
summon  Brutus ;  and  whether  to  give  me  pay  for  my  soldiers  or 
merely  promise  it.  I  have  sent  a  dispatch  to  the  senate.  Believe 
me  unless  all  these  things  are  done  just  as  I  write,  all  of  us  will  be 
imperiled.  I  request  you  to  be  careful  to  whom  you  intrust  the 
business  of  leading  the  legions  to  me.  Loyalty  and  haste  are 
required."  It  is  true  that  Decimus  had  early  expressed  his  distrust 
of  Lepidus;  but  recently  he  had  suflFered  himself  to  be  deceived 
by  the  optimistic  reports  from  Plancus,  and  his  fears  from  that 
source  had  been  quieted.  This  last  letter  of  his  to  Cicero  betrays 
a  petulance  and  impatience  that  was  more  characteristic  of  Marcus 
Brutus  than  of  himself.  But  it  is  hardly  strange  that  a  man  in  his 
situation,  in  view  of  the  slowness  and  indecision  of  the  senate,"* 
should  have  thus  expressed  himself  in  a  private  letter. 

Decimus'  rapid  march  across  the  Alps  seems  to  have  surprised 
Antonius  and  Lepidus.  His  arrival  at  Cularo  relieved  the  fears  of 
Plancus  that  his  army  of  four  legions  would  be  crushed  by  the  com- 
bined forces  of  the  enemy.  Decimus  and  Plancus  sent  forward 
some  cavalry  to  aid  the  Allobroges  in  delaying  the  approach  of 
Antonius  and  Lepidus,  and  they  apparently  thought  of  advancing 
against  them  themselves,  as  we  learn  from  their  report"'  to  the 


•••  Fam.  X.  23.  a,  3. 

•»*  Ct  C.  I.  JL,  V,  a,  pp.  755,  765,  and  maps  of  Vol.  XII. 

•*•  Fam.  xL  ao.  4  and  z.  34.  3. 


*»*F*m.  id.  a6. 
•MCf.  Fam.  id.  14.  i. 
•**Fam.  zi.  13a.  4,  $' 


DECIMUS'   ADMINISTRATION  OF  CISALPINE  GAUL 


107 


magistrates  and  senate.  "Nevertheless,  even  if  by  chance,"  this 
report  goes  on  to  say.  "ttiey  should  cross  the  Isara,  we  shall  do  our 
best  to  see  that  they  do  not  inflict  any  damage  on  the  republic." 
They  further  announce  that  the  union  of  their  armies  is  complete, 
but  they  urge  diligence  on  the  part  of  the  government  at  Rome  in 
sending  them  aid. 

The  junction  of  Decimus  with  Plancus  raised  the  hopes  of 
Cicero  and  those  at  Rome  ^^^^  after  the  feeling  of  alarm  that  had 
followed  the  report  of  the  treachery  of  Lepidus.  On  the  30th  of 
June  Lepidus  was  declared  a  public  enemy  (hostis)  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  senate,  along  with  the  rest  of  those  who  had 
deserted  the  republic  at  the  same  time  as  he.**^^  To  the  latter,  how- 
ever, an  opportunity  of  returning  to  allegiance  before  September 
I  was  left. 

From  the  middle  of  June  to  the  end  of  July  the  armies  of 
Decimus  Brutus  and  Plancus  remained  idle,  awaiting,  and  at  the 
same  time  dreading,  an  attack  from  the  forces  of  Antonius  and 
Lepidus.  From  the  last  letter  ^^^  we  have  from  Plancus  to  Cicero, 
dated  July  28,  we  learn  why  the  consuls-designate  had  not  dared  to 
assume  the  offensive.  "Up  to  this  time,"  Plancus  writes,  "we  have 
kept  the  situation  unchanged.  Although  I  know  how  much  men 
desire  a  victory  and  not  without  reason,  yet  I  hope  you  approve  of 
our  plan  [of  inactivity] .  For,  if  there  should  be  any  reverse  in  the 
case  of  these  armies,  the  republic  has  no  great  reserve  force  ready  to 
withstand  the  sudden  rebellious  onslaught  of  these  traitors.  But  I 
think  you  know  the  strength  of  our  forces.  In  my  camp  I  have 
three  veteran  legions,  one  of  recruits  which  is  quite  the  best  of  all. 
In  his  camp,  Brutus  has  one  veteran  legion,  one  of  two  years* 
service,  and  eight  of  recruits.  So  the  army,  as  a  whole,  is  imposing 
in  numbers,  but  weak  in  strength.  Moreover,  how  much  confidence 
can  be  put  in  a  recruit  in  battle,  too  often  we  have  learned  by 
experience."  *•*•  It  should  be  added,  to  what  Plancus  says  of  the 
state  of  their  forces,  that  many  of  Brutus'  men  had  suffered  greatly 
from  their  privations  and  from  sickness.^*®  It  seems  that  Octavianus 
had  promised  to  go  to  their  assistance,  and  they  had  been  expecting 


•**Fam.  zi.  15;   x.  aa.  •i*  Fam.  x.  a4. 

•«»  Fam.  xii.  10.  i.  •»  Fam.  x.  34.  3. 

•*«  Appian  (iii.  81)  says  that  they  suffered  with  the  dysentery.    Cf.  Fam.  xL  19.  z,  where  Brutus 
says  cum  sim  cum  tirtmibus  egentissimis,  App.  iii.  97. 


io8 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


the  veteran  legions  from  Africa.**^  Plancus  thinks  that  if  Caesar 
had  been  willing  to  come  when  he  had  promised,  the  war  would 
have  been  ended,  or  Antonius  and  Lepidus  would  have  been  driven 
into  Spain,  which  was  most  hostile  to  them. 

The  armies*  of  Lepidus  and  Antonius  were  equal  to  those  of 
their  opponents  in  number  of  legions,  and  very  much  superior  in 
cavalry  strength,  as  well  as  in  point  of  service  and  equipment.*'* 
Consequently  Decimus  and  Plancus  were  probably  wise  in  not  risk- 
ing a  pitched  battle.  But  prospect  of  reinforcement  there  was  none. 
The  urgent  appeals  of  Cicero  to  Marcus  Brutus  to  lead  his  army  to 
Italy  had  been  in  vain.^*'*  Cassiiis  too  had  been  summoned  by  Cicero, 
but  with  no  better  result.*®*  The  African  legions  had  not  yet 
arrived,  though  a  decree  of  the  senate  had  summoned  them.*** 
Altogether  the  outlook  was  exceedingly  gloomy  for  Decimus  and 
Plancus. 

It  was  about  a  month  after  Plancus  had  written  the  letter  above 
referred  to,  that,  notwithstanding  his  many  protestations  of  loyalty, 
he  deserted  Decimus  and  the  republic  and  joined  Antonius  and 
Lepidus.*"  Already  on  the  19th  of  August,  Octavianus,  with  Q. 
Pedius  as  colleague,  had  been  chosen  consul ;  the  decree  of  amnesty 
of  the  preceding  year  had  then  been  repealed ;  and  those  who  had 
occasioned  the  death  of  Caesar,  together  with  their  allies,  had  been 
condemned  unheard  to  exile  and  the  loss  of  their  possessions.**^ 
The  army  of  Decimus  Brutus  had  also  by  a  decree  of  the  senate 
been  transferred  to  Caesar.**®  And  so  when  Decimus,  on  hearing  of 
his  own  condemnation  and  of  the  understanding  **•  that  had  been 
brought  about  between  Caesar  on  the  one  hand  and  Antonius  and 
Lepidus  on  the  other,  proposed  to  march  into  Italy  against  the  new 
enemy  of  himself  and  the  republic,  he  was  abandoned  by  Plancus.*^® 
For  Plancus  found  in  the  proposal  of  Decimus  an  excuse  for  com- 

**'  Paragraph  4,  6;  App.  iii.  91. 

**■  Fam.  X.  33.  4;  App.  iii.  84.    Antonius  had  seven  legions  and  Lepidus  seven.    They  also  had  « 
large  body  of  cavahy  and  auxiliary  troops. 

••»  Ad  Bn$t.  i.  10.  4,  5;  Fam.  xi.  15.  2. 

***Fam.  m.  10.  3;  cf.  App.  iii.  85;  c£.  Dio  xlvi.  51.  5. 

•*»Fam.  id.  14.  a;   App.  iii.  85. 

•♦*  Dio  xlvi.  53.  a.  • 

<«T  Gardthausen,  Augustus,  I,  i.  pp.  las  f.  and  ii.  i,  pp.  47  f. 

»••  Dio  xlvi.  47.  3. 

*^  App.  iii.  96;  Dio  xlvi.  51.  5a. 

•»•  Dio  xlvi.  53.  a. 


decimus'   administration  of  cisalpine  GAUL 


109 


pleting  the  arrangement  between  himself  and  Antonius  that  had 
been  effected  through  the  agency  of  Asinius  PoUio,  who  a  little  while 
before  had  joined  Antonius  with  two  legions.*'* 

Decimus,  thus  forsaken  by  his  colleague,  determined  at  first  to 
flee  through  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  along  the  Adriatic  Sea  to  join 
Marcus  Brutus  in  Macedonia.     He  had  probably  already  crossed 
the  Alps  into  northern  Italy,  when  he  learned  that  his  route  through 
his  province  to  Aquileia  was  blocked  by  Caesar,  who  had  returned 
from  Rome  with  his  troops  and  was  in  the  neighborhod  of  Bononia. 
He  then  turned  toward  the  north  with  the  intention  of  crossing  the 
Rhine  near  its  source  and  marching  through  the  passes  of  the  Rae- 
tian  Alps,   and  thence   through   the   wild   country  of   Raetia  and 
Noricum.     But  the  courage  and  patience,  as  well  as  the  physical 
endurance,  of  his  troops  were  exhausted.     The  recruits,  many  of 
whom  had  been  levied  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  deserted  first  and  marched 
to  join  Caesar.     Soon  afterward  the  veterans  also  abandoned  him 
and  proceeded  to  Antonius.     Brutus  was  left  with  his  bodyguard 
of  Gallic  horse.    Of  these,  he  released  those  who  desired  it  from  the 
obligation  of  further  continuing  the  flight.     Having  distributed  the 
money  in  his  possession,  he  pressed  on  toward  the  Rhine  with  only 
three  hundred  horsemen.     There,  since  the  river  was  difficult  to 
cross,  all  save  ten  deserted  him.     Having  adopted  the  Gallic  garb 
and  being  acquainted  with  the  Gallic  language,  he  abandoned  his 
circuitous  route  across  the  Alps  and  now  was  making  directly  for 
Aquileia,  thinking  that  with  his  small  retinue  he  would  not  attract 
attention.    But  he  fell  ino  the  hands  of  a  band  of  mountain  robbers 
and  was  bound  and  taken  before  the  chieftain  of  their  tribe,  Camelus, 
to  whom  he  had,  as  a  provincial  governor,  shown  many  favors; 
Camelus  greeted  Decimus  cordially,  and  pretended  to  be  indignant 
that  he  had  been  bound,  but  straightway  informed  Antonius  of  his 
capture.     Antonius  sent  some  Gallic  horsemen  to  fetch  his  head. 
There  is  a  story  of  Valerius   Maximus  to  the  effect  that,  when 
Decimus  and  his  party  were  discovered  in  hiding  in  the  darkness, 
Terentius,  a  member  of  the  little  troop,  pretended  that  he  was  Brutus 
and  offered  himself  to  be  slain  by  the  horsemen  of  Antonius,  but, 
having  been  recognized  by  Furius,  their  leader,  he  failed  even  by 
his  own  death  to  save  the  life  of  his  master.*'*    In  another  passage 
Valerius  states  that,  when  Decimus  was  bidden  to  present  his  neck 


•»«  App.  ia.  07- 


«»»  Val.  Max.  iv.  7.  6. 


no 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


to  the  sword,  he  was  persistent  in  refusing,  saying :  "I  will  give  it 
provided  I  may  live."  "^  These  tales  were  probably  invented  by 
some  flatterer  of  Augustus  to  cast  a  shadow  over  the  name  and 
fame  of  Decimus  Brutus.  The  report  of  Appian  "*  practically 
agrees  with  that  of  Livy,  Velleius,  and  Orosius,  and  we  get  there- 
from no  hint  that  Decimus  died  a  coward.  According  to  Appian, 
he  was  the  next  one  of  the  liberatores  after  Trebonius  to  meet  his 
fate,  and  paid  the  penalty  for  the  assassination  of  the  dictator  within 
a  year  and  a  half  of  that  event."*^  His  end  must  have  come  about 
the  middle  of  September,  43. 


•»»Val.  Max.  ix.  13.  3;   Seneca,  Epist.  82.  11;  Dio  xlvi.  53.  3. 
"♦App.  iii.  98;   Veil.  ii.  64.  i;  Liv.  Epit.  lao;   Orosius  VI.  18.  7. 
account  was  probably  one  of  Antonius'  Gallic  horsemen. 
•»*App.  iii.  98. 


Capenus  Sequanus  in  Livy's 


INDEX  OF  PROPER  NAMES 

(Ntunbers   refer   to   pages) 


Mam.  Aemilius  Lepidus  (Cos.  77  b.  c), 

ai. 

M.  Aemilius  Lepidus  (Cos.   137  b.  c), 

19. 
M.    Aemilius    Lepidus    {triumvtr),    38, 

45,  55.   59-^«.  64-69,  80,   84,  90,  9i» 
95-108. 
M.     Aemilius     Lepidus     (revoluUonary 

leader),  21,  24. 
Africa,  23,  35,   106,   108. 
Agedincum,    27,   28. 
Alba,  76. 
Alban  Mount,  44' 
Albici,  31. 
Alesia,  28,  35. 
Alexander  the  Great,  40- 
Alexandria,    43- 
Allobroges,    22,   98,   99,    ^06. 
C.  Amatius   ( Pseudo-Marius) ,  71. 
Ancona,  85. 
T.  Annius  Milo,  51. 
Antiochus  the  Great,   18. 
Antitistius   Labeo,   Pacuvius,   52. 
Antium,  67. 
L.    Antonius,    73,    76,   82,    89,    99,    100, 

lOI. 

M.    Antonius    (triumvir),    17,    28,    34, 

36,  38,  46-50,  55,  56,  58,  59,  61-109. 

Appian,    37,    53,    55,    56,    60,    62,    72, 

74,  89,  90,  91,  1 10. 
L.  Appuleius  Saturninus,  20,  24,  51. 
P.  Apuleius,  89. 
Aquileia,  109. 
Argenteus,    loi,    105. 
Ariminum,   76,   78,   82,  88. 
Aristotle,  40. 
Aries,    31. 
Arretium,   75. 
Arverni,    27. 

C.   Asinius   PoUio,   91,   9^,   95,   97,   99, 
109. 

Atlantic  Ocean,   19,  27. 

Attia,  36. 

T.   Attius   Labienus,   28. 

Auray,    25. 

L.  Aurelius  Cotta,  54. 

Aventine,   20. 

Bay  of  Quiberon,  25. 

P.   Bagiennus,  91. 

Bellovaci,  35- 

■Less  important  names  are  omitted  from  this  index 

III 


Bononia,   84,   86,   88,  93,  94,    109. 

Britain,  25,  27. 

Brittany,    24. 

Brundisitun.  72.  74,  7S» 

L.  Caecilius  Metellus,  30. 

Q.  Caecilius  Bassus,  63. 

M.  Caelius  Rufus,  28. 

L.  Caesetius  Flavus,  44,  47,  6o- 

Calpurnia,   55- 

L.  Calpurnius  Piso,  69,  82. 

C.   Calvisius   Sabinus,   57- 

Camelus,  109. 

Campus   Martins,   54- 

C.  Caninius  Rebilus,  43- 
Capitol,  42,  59.  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  69, 

76,  89. 
Capua,    75- 

D.  Carfulenus,  76,  88. 
Cassius  Dio  Cocceianus,  32,  36,  42,  46. 

47,  48,  49,  53.  72,  90,  91.  94,   ^01. 
C.  Cassius  Longinus,  38,  49,  52,  54,  5^. 

60,  61,  62,  63.  64,  66,  67,  68,  69,  71, 

83,  84,  87,  88. 
Catiline,  see  Sergius. 
Cevennes   Mountains,   27. 
Cisalpine  Gaul,  27,  36,  37,  38,  62,  71, 

72,    73,    74,    75,    76,    77,    78,    79,    81, 

82,   83,    109. 
Claterna,  84,  86. 
Ti.   Claudius   Nero    (Roman   emperor), 

58. 
App.   Claudius,   21. 

Qodia,  20 

P  Qodius,  SI. 

P.    Coelius,    21. 

Commius,  35. 

L.  Cornelius   Cinna,  47,   59- 

L.   Cornelius    Sulla,   21,   43,   45,   65. 

P.  Cornelius  Dolabella,   17,  38,  49,  59, 

61,  72,  73,  78. 
P.  Cornelius  Scipio  Aemihanus,  50,  53. 
P.  Cornelius  Scipio  Nasica,  19,  5©. 
Correus,  35. 

Cularo,  98,  99,  100,  105,  106. 
Curia   Hostilia,   45- 
Curia  Pompeia,   54,   57,  66. 
C.   Curiatius,    19- 
Curio,  see  Scribonius. 
M'.    Curius,    43- 
Deiotarus  (king),  43- 


112 


DECIMUS  JUNIUS  BRUTUS  ALBINUS 


* 


Dertona,    95. 

L.   Domitius   Ahenobarbus,   30,   31,   3a, 

33,  34- 
Durius,   98,    103,    106. 
Dyrrachium,  92. 
L.   Egnatuleius,   76,  81. 
C.  Epidius  Marullus,  44,  47,  60. 
Eporedia,  99,   103,   104,   105,   106. 
Etruria,  30,  96. 
C.   Fabius,  28. 
Q.    Fabius    Maximus,   43, 
Fasti   (calendar),  46,  47,  94,  95. 
Forum,  46,  47,  58,  59.  60,  64,  89. 
Forum   Comclium,   8a,   84,   86. 
Forum  Gallorum,  88,  89,  90,  91,  93. 
Forum  luli,  99,   loo,   loi. 
Forum   Voconi,    loi. 
M.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  ao,  53. 
Furius,    109. 
Galba,    see    Sulpicius. 
Gallaeci,    19,    20. 
Gaul,  24,  27,  28,  29,  34,  35,  36,  37,  72, 

73 ;  Gallia  Cantata,  83  ;  Further,  30. 
Glaucia,    see   Servilius. 
Graeceius,  92,  97. 
Helvius   Cinna,  44,   47. 
A.  Hirtius,  38,  48,  62,  63,  64,  66,  68, 

80,    82,   84,   86,   87,    88,   89,   90,   91, 

92,  93,   94. 
Histri,  18. 
lapydes,    20. 
Iberians,    32. 

Ides  of  March,  41,  49,  54,  66,  77,  78. 
Ilerda,  32. 
Illyricum,    24. 
Inalpini,   73. 
Isara,  98,  99,   105,   106. 
Isocrates,  40. 
Italy,  24,  27,  29,  30,  31,  34,  36,  54,  71, 

85,  98   104. 

C.  lulius  Caesar,  17,  22,  23-32,  34-63, 
65-72,  75,  78,  8s,   103. 

C  lulius  Caesar  Octavianus  (Augus- 
tus), 36,  37,  48,  58,  74,  75,  76,  77, 
78,  79.  80,  81,  82,  86,  88,  89,  90, 
91,  92,  93,  94,  9<S,  102,  103,  104, 
105,  107,  108,  109. 

L.  lulius  Caesar,  82,  84,  85. 

D.  lunius  Brutits  (Cos.  77  b.  c),  i8, 
«o,  Ji,  S3. 

D.  lunius  Brutus  Albinus,  date  of  birth, 
17;  ancestry,  17  ff.;  adoptire  father, 
23  ;  takes  service  under  Caesar,  24 ; 
naval  commander  in  war  with 
Veneti,  24  f . ;  part  in  war  with  Ver- 
dngetorix,  27  f . ;  marriage,  28  f. 
sides  with  Caesar  in  Civil  War,  29 
naval  victories  before  Massilia,  31  flF. 
ffovemor   of   Transalpine   Gaul,    34 


conquers    the    Bellovaci,    35 ;    accom- 
panies Caesar  to   Rome,  36;  one  of 
Caesar's     substitute     heirs,     36     f. ; 
praetor,    37 ;    appointed    governor   of 
Cisalpine    Gaul    and    named    consul 
designate,    38;    character,   and   value 
of  services  to  Caesar,  38  f. ;  political 
faith,    39 ;   conspires   against   Caesar, 
52    ff. ;    gladiators    of,    58 ;    letter    to 
Brutus    and    Cassius,    62    ff. ;    leaves 
Rome    for    his    province,    71  ;    hopes 
aroused    by    his    arrival    there,    71, 
72 ;  law  of  Antonius  to  deprive  him 
of  his  province,  72  f . ;  war  with  the 
Inalpini,     73;     title     of     Imperator, 
73   f. ;   at   Mutina,   74 ;   wishes   sena- 
tus  consultum  authorizing  him  to  hold 
his   province,   77 ;   edict,   78   f. ;   pre- 
pares   for    defence    of    Mutina,    80; 
praised    by   senate,    80    f. ;    measures 
for  relief  of,  82 ;  Cicero's  views  con- 
cerning, 84  f. ;  anxiety  at  Rome  for, 
86 ;    Hirtius    and    Caesar    march    to 
relief  of,  86   ff. ;  share  in  battle  of 
Mutina,      90      ff. ;      interview      with 
Caesar,  93  ;  learns  of  Pansa's  death, 
93 ;  pursues  Antonius,  93  ff. ;  plans, 
95  ;  hints  at  ambition  of  Octavianus, 
96 ;   inferiority   of  his   army   to   that 
of    Antonius,    97 ;    learns    the    plans 
of    Antonius,    97 ;    seizes     PoUentia, 
98   f . ;   criticised  at  Rome,    102;  de- 
lays  departure   from    Italy,    103    ff. ; 
receives  news  of  Lepidus'  treachery, 
106;  junction  with  Plancus,   106   f . ; 
condition  of  their  forces,  107  f. ;  de- 
serted  by   Plancus,    108;   condemned 
at    Rome   to    exile,    108;    flight    and 
death,    109    f. 
D.   lunius   Brutus  Gallaecus  X^os.    138 

B.  c),    18,   19,   52. 
L.  lunius  Brutus  (first  consul),  52,  53. 
M.   lunius   Brutus   (Cos.    178),   18,    19. 
M.    lunius    Brutus    (a   founder   of  the 

civil  law),  18. 
M.  lunius  Brutus   (Q.  Caepio),  36,  38. 
41,  52,  53,  54,  56,  57,  60,  61,  62,  63, 
64,  66,  67,  68,  69,  70,  71,  83,  84,  87, 
92,   io6«   108. 
P.    lunius    Brutus    (tribune),    18. 
P.    lunius    Brutus,    21. 
M.  lunius  Silanus,  90,  91,   loi. 
Labienus,  see  Attius. 
Lake  Regillus.  23. 
P.  Licinius  Crassus,  24,  25. 
C.  Livius,   18. 

Livy,  19,  20,  35,  73,  94,  no. 
Loire,    24,    25. 
Lucterius,   27. 


INDEX  OF  PROPER  NAMES 


"3 


Lupus,    74. 

Q.   j^uutius   Catulus,  40. 
Sp.   Maelius,   50,   52. 
C.   Maccius   Plautus,   18. 
L.   Marcius   Censorinus,   57. 
L.    Marcius    Philippus,   81,   82. 
C.   Marius    18,   21. 
Massilia,  30,  31,  34* 
Milo,  see  Annius. 

L.    Munatius   Plancus,   38,   69,   73.   74. 
79,   84,  90,   91,   95,   97,  98-103,   105, 
106,    107,   108. 
T.    Munatius   Plancus,   85. 
Munda,  41. 
Mutina,   17,  73.  74,  80,  81,  83,  84,  85, 

87-96,  99.   102.   103. 
Myrtilus,    74. 
L.   Nasidius,   32,   33. 
Narbo,  25,  27 

Narbonese   Gaul,   27,   73,  99. 
Nicolaus    Damascenus,    46,   47,   48,   54. 

56,  60,  65,  66,  7^' 
Octavius,  see  lulius. 
L.   Opimius,    50. 
Orosius,    Paulus,    23,    52,    no. 
Pallantia,    19. 
Parisii,  28. 
Parma,  84. 
Q.    Pedius,    37,    108. 
Perseus  of  Macedon,   19. 
L.  Pinarius,  37. 
Plautus,  see  Maccius. 
Plutarch,  36,  42,  47,  48,  52,  55,  56,  60. 
Pollentia,  98,  99,  100,  lo^,  I03- 
Cn.   Pompeius  Magnus,  29,  30,  32,  39. 
Sex.  Pompeius,  60,  63. 
Sex.    Pomponius,    18. 
T.  Pomponius  Atticus,  40,  52,  67. 
L.  Pontius  Aquila,  43,  85,  91,  92.  93. 

94- 
A.  Postumius  Albinus  (Cos.  99),  23. 
A.  Postumius  Albinus   (propraetor  no 

B.C.),   23. 
A.      Postumius      Albinus      (gov.      of 

Sicily,  49  B.C.),  23. 
A.    Posttmiius   Albinus   Regillensis,   23. 
Sp.  Postumius  Albinus,  23. 
Pseudo-Marius,    see    Amatius. 
L.    Quinctius    Cincinnatus,    50. 
Ratoneau,  31. 
Ravenna,   75* 

Regium  Lepidi,  84,  94,  95* 
Rhone,  99,   loi. 
Rufinus,  43. 
Saguntum,    19. 

C.   Sallustius   Crispus,   21,  22, 
Sardinia,  106. 
Satuminus,  see  Appuleius. 


C.    Scribonius    Curio,    32. 

Scultenna,   87,   93* 

Second  Triumvirate,  78. 

Segulius,    Labeo,    104. 

Sempronia,    18,  21,  22,  24. 

C.  Sempronius,  20. 

C.  Sempronius  Gracchus,  20,  50,  51,  52. 

Ti.  Sempronius  Gracchus,  50,  53. 

L.  Sergius  Catilina,  18,  21,  22,  24,  51. 

C.   Servilius  Ahala,  41,   50,  52. 

C.   Servilius   Glaucia,  20,   53. 

Sicily,  23,  32. 

Sicoris,    32. 

Spain,    19,    30,    31,    34.    36,    42.    108; 

Further,   19;  Hither,  33.  • 
Spoletium,    82. 
Statiellenses,   97,   98. 
St.   Gildas  de   Ruis,   25. 
C.    Suetonius    Tranquillus,    36,    37,    46, 

61. 
Ser.  Sulpicius  Galba,  88,  91. 
Ser.  Sulpicius  Rufus,  80,  82,  83,  85. 
Syria,    78. 

Tarquins,  23,  52,  53. 
Tauroentum,   32. 

Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  75. 
Temple   of   Mars,    20. 
Temple  of  Ops,  83. 
Temple  of  Tellus,  68. 
Temple  of  Venus,  48. 
Ser.  Terentius,   109. 
Q.  Terentius  CuUeo,   101. 
Tiberius,   see   Qaudius. 
Tibur,   75,   76. 
u.  Trebellius,  98,  100. 
C.  Trebonius,  31,  34,  38,   58,   "O. 
M.  Tullius  Cicero,  passim. 
P.  Umbrenus,  22. 
Vaccaei,   19. 

Vada  Sabatia,  96,  98,  99,  100. 
Valerius  Maximus,  19,  20,  109. 
Valeria,   Paula,   28,   29,   82. 
C.  Valerius  Triarius,   29. 
L.  Valerius  Triarius,   29. 
P.  Valerius  Triarius,  29. 
Valentia,    19. 
L.   Varius   Cotyla,   84. 
C.  Velleius  Paterculus,  94,   "O. 
Veneti,   24,   25,   26. 
P.    Ventidius    Bassus,    85,    88,   90,    91. 

93,  95,  96,  97,  98,  99,   lOO,    loi. 
Vercellae,    103. 
Vercingetorix,   27. 
Verdon,    105. 
C.   Verres,    21. 
C.   Vibius   Pansa,    38,   80,   82,   84,   86, 

88,    90,    93,   94- 
Viriathus,    19. 


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